The South Korea stock market on Thursday snapped the five-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 60 points or 1.9 percent to a record closing high. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,265-point plateau although it’s looking at a steady start on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with support from technology stocks and weakness from oil companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology, oil and automobile stocks were tempered by support from the chemical companies.
For the day, the index shed 13.72 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 3,264.96 after trading between 3,251.32 and 3,276.20. Volume was 1.8 billion shares worth 14.4 trillion won. There were 495 decliners and 335 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.83 percent, while Samsung Electronics skidded 1.10 percent, LG Electronics tanked 1.90 percent, SK Hynix plunged 2.32 percent, Naver shed 0.38 percent, LG Chem soared 3.34 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.09 percent, S-Oil lost 0.48 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 1.57 percent, POSCO declined 1.16 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.15 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.75 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.25 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 1.68 percent and KB Financial and Hana Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is wildly inconsistent as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but then went off on their own different directions. The NASDAQ stayed positive, the Dow stayed negative and the S&P 500 hugged the line and finished barely in the red.
The Dow dropped 210.22 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 33,823.45, while the NASDAQ spiked 121.67 points or 0.87 percent to end at 14,161.35 and the S&P 500 eased 1.84 points or 0.04 percent to close at 4,221.86.
The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders moved out of cyclicals and into tech stocks after Wednesday’s announcement from the Federal Reserve, which saw the central bank move up its timeline for raising interest rates.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected uptick in initial jobless claims last week. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity expanded at a slightly slower rate in June.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar after Federal Reserve officials projected that interest rates might be hiked by 2023. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.11 or 1.5 percent at $71.04 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Little Movement Expected For South Korea Shares
2021-06-17 23:00:12
