The South Korea stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gaining almost 80 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 3,205-point plateau and it’s expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. employment data at the end of the week, while support from crude oil prices may nudge markets into the green. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials were capped by weakness from the oil and chemical companies.
For the day, the index added 7.75 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 3,207.02 after trading between 3,185.80 and 3,215.13. Volume was 738.27 million shares worth 13.29 trillion won. There were 589 gainers and 239 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial gained 1.03 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.38 percent, Hana Financial was up 0.11 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.13 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.70 percent, SK Hynix jumped 1.41 percent, Naver climbed 1.37 percent, LG Chem plummeted 4.88 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.40 percent, S-Oil tanked 2.63 percent, SK Innovation tumbled 2.00 percent, POSCO perked 0.15 percent, SK Telecom surged 5.03 percent, KEPCO rose 0.21 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.18 percent and Kia Motors added 0.82 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, although the Dow quickly slipped into negative territory and finished in the red.
The Dow shed 48.20 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 35,312.53, while the NASDAQ gained 50.15 points or 0.33 percent to close at a record 15,309.38 and the S&P 500 rose 1.41 points or 0.03 percent to end at 4,524.09.
The lackluster close on Wall Street came as traders continued to look ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Economists currently expect employment to jump by 750,000 jobs in August after surging by 943,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP noted weaker than expected private sector job growth in August. And the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly grew at a slightly faster rate in August.
Crude oil futures settled marginally higher on Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up $0.09 or 0.1 percent at $68.59 a barrel.
Closer to home, South Korea will release final Q2 figures for gross domestic product later this morning; in the previous reading, GDP was up 1.7 percent on quarter and 1.9 percent on year.
South Korea also will provide August inflation data, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 2.3 percent on year. That follows the 0.2 percent monthly increase and the 2.6 percent annual gain in July.
Market Analysis
South Korea Stock Market Has Flat Lead For Thursday
2021-09-01 23:00:15
