Tech Shares Likely To Weigh On South Korea Stock Market

The South Korea stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,600-point plateau and it may give up that support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with earnings news possibly steering the markets. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the industrials and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and oil companies.

For the day, the index shed 8.01 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 2,600.23. Volume was 362.59 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won. There were 446 gainers and 417 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial improved 0.75 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.10 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.52 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.98 percent, Samsung SDI declined 1.44 percent, LG Electronics retreated 1.70 percent, SK Hynix slid 0.51 percent, LG Chem dipped 0.29 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.85 percent, S-Oil gained 0.57 percent, SK Innovation rallied 2.48 percent, POSCO shed 0.40 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.33 percent, KEPCO added 0.50 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.61 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.74 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 1.98 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent and uninspiring as the major averages opened and closed mixed on Thursday; the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened lower and remained in the red throughout.

The Dow climbed 163.97 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 35,225.18, while the NASDAQ tumbled 294.71 points or 2.05 percent to close at 14,063.31 and the S&P 500 sank 30.85 points or 0.68 percent to end at 4,534.87.

The sharp pullback by the Nasdaq came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Tesla (TSLA). On the other hand, the narrower Dow benefitted from a spike from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) after solid earnings news.

Traders also reacted to a Labor Department report showing that first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly dipped last week.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday and lifted the August series futures contract to a positive close on the expiration day amid fears of declining supplies from Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $75.63 a barrel, gaining $0.28 or 0.4 percent.