South Korea Shares Tipped To Open In The Red On Friday

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 90 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,635-point plateau and it’s expected to open to the downside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is one of caution ahead of key inflation data later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and automobile producers, while the financials and chemicals were mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 41.86 points or 1.56 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,635.44 after peaking at 2,666.63. Volume was 366.42 million shares worth 10.92 trillion won. There were 680 decliners and 197 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.65 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.77 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.98 percent, Samsung Electronics lost 2.26 percent, Samsung SDI declined 1.56 percent, LG Electronics tumbled 3.80 percent, SK Hynix plunged 3.36 percent, Naver tanked 2.80 percent, LG Chem plummeted 5.40 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 3.65 percent, S-Oil slumped 1.46 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.10 percent, POSCO retreated 1.20 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.19 percent, KEPCO surrendered 2.60 percent, Hyundai Mobis skidded 1.15 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 1.53 percent and Kia Motors crashed 3.52 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened solidly lower on Thursday and remained well in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 330.06 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 38,111.48, while the NASDAQ tumbled 183.50 points or 1.08 percent to end at 16,737.08 and the S&P 500 sank 31.47 points or 0.60 percent to close at 5,235.48.

The weakness on Wall Street was fueled by concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched inflation data later today, which includes readings said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

A nosedive by shares of Salesforce (CRM) weighed on the Dow, with the software company plunging 19.7 percent after reporting weaker than expected revenues and guidance.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept modestly higher last week. Also, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product was revised down to 1.3 percent in Q1 from 1.6 percent.

Oil futures ended sharply lower on Thursday as a jump in gasoline inventories weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.32 or 1.7 percent at $77.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide April numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. In March, industrial production fell 3.2 percent on month and gained 0.7 percent on year, Retail sales rose 1.5 percent on month.