Tech Shares May Weigh On South Korea Stock Market

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 25 points or 1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just shy of the 2,655-point plateau and it may remain stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with a lack of direction over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, technology shares, chemical companies and oil stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 4.48 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 2,653.31. Volume was 551.7 million shares worth 8.9 trillion won. There were 553 decliners and 313 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial sank 0.46 percent, while KB Financial plummeted 4.12 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.36 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.41 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 1.27 percent, LG Electronics eased .20 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.40 percent, LG Chem declined 1.19 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 2.00 percent, S-Oil tanked 1.98 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.51 percent, POSCO slid 0.45 percent, SK Telecom slumped 1.12 percent, KEPCO plunged 2.14 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 0.21 percent, Hyundai Motor skidded 1.03 percent, Kia Motors added 0.60 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and spent the vast majority of the session in the red, with only a late spurt lifting the Dow and S&P barely into the green.

The Dow added 48.44 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,612.24, while the NASDAQ lost 49.91 points or 0.32 percent to close at 15,580.87 and the S&P 500 rose 6.29 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,981.80.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of the session, with the major averages falling to their worst levels after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates “too quickly.”

However, the Fed said a couple of participants pointed to downside risks to the economy associated with maintaining an overly restrictive stance for too long. The late-day recovery may have reflected expectations the Fed will still eventually cut interest rates.

Oil prices rebounded from early losses and settled higher on Wednesday as concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East outweighed weak outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.87 or 1.1 percent at $77.91 a barrel.