South Korea Bourse May Hand Back Wednesday’s Gains

The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 40 points or 1.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,650-point plateau although it may head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is one of caution ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, automobile producers, energy companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index climbed 27.24 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 2,652.29 after trading between 2,623.15 and 2,657.32. Volume was 409.7 million shares worth 10 trillion won. There were 559 gainers and 302 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 2.14 percent, while KB Financial collected 2.35 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.65 percent, Samsung Electronics gained 0.41 percent, Samsung SDI perked 0.13 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.83 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.73 percent, Naver improved 2.00 percent, LG Chem slipped 0.32 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 1.27 percent, S-Oil soared 4.12 percent, SK Innovation advanced 0.84 percent, POSCO climbed 3.06 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.38 percent, KEPCO added 1.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis spiked 3.64 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 3.98 percent and Kia Motors surged 4.53 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday, pared their losses as the day progressed but still ended in the red.

The Dow shed 23.39 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 38,949.02, while the NASDAQ dropped 87.56 points or 0.55 percent and the S&P 500 sank 8.42 points or 0.17 percent to end at 5,069.76.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets ahead of the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation later today.

With Federal Reserve officials saying they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before they consider cutting interest rates, the data could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the jump by real gross domestic product in the fourth quarter was downwardly revised to 3.2 percent from the previously reported 3.3 percent.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after data showed a much larger than expected increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.33 or 0.42 percent at $78.54 a barrel.

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