South Korea Bourse May Reverse Wednesday’s Losses

The South Korea stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 35 points or 1.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,610-point plateau although it’s expected to rebound again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index dropped 23.09 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 2,610.36 after trading between 2,601.35 and 2,622.33. Volume was 429.5 million shares worth 9.8 trillion won. There were 551 decliners and 323 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 2.42 percent, while KB Financial dipped 0.21 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.17 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 2.46 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 3.13 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.91 percent, SK Hynix slumped 2.18 percent, Naver climbed 1.03 percent, LG Chem sank 0.88 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.22 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 3.88 percent, POSCO retreated 1.42 percent, SK Telecom added 0.36 percent, KEPCO perked 0.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis skyrocketed 7.81 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.41 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 1.91 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.

The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.

Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.