More Pain Predicted For South Korea Shares

Ahead of Wednesday’s market holiday for Election Day, the South Korea stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had risen just 8 points or 0.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,705-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on rising concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and automobile producers, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 12.49 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 2,705.16 after trading between 2,703.96 and 2,741.23. Volume was 458.4 million shares worth 9.48 trillion won. There were 489 decliners and 370 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 1.80 percent, while KB Financial dipped 0.29 percent, Hana Financial retreated 1.86 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.07 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.14 percent, LG Electronics jumped 1.80 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.94 percent, Naver lost 0.47 percent, LG Chem sank 0.76 percent, Lotte Chemical skidded 1.02 percent, S-Oil declined 1.33 percent, SK Innovation weakened 1.09 percent, POSCO perked 0.12 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.19 percent, KEPCO fell 0.45 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 1.94 percent, Kia Motors shed 0.46 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 422.16 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 38,461.51, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 16,170.36 and the S&P 500 sank 49.27 points or 0.95 percent to end at 5,160.64.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in March, also causing a surge in treasury yields.

The data added to recent worries the Federal Reserve will hold off on lowering interest rates amid ongoing inflation concerns. Fed officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

The minutes of the central bank’s latest monetary policy meeting, released later in the day, revealed Fed officials were already not convinced inflation is moving sustainably down to 2 percent after January and February readings on core and headline inflation had been firmer than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on rising geopolitical tensions amid reports of a likely strike by Iran against Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.98 at $86.21 a barrel.