South Korea Shares Tipped To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 50 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,675-point plateau and it's likely to take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over treasury yields and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology, chemical and automobile sectors.

For the day, the index tumbled 45.55 points or 1.67 percent to finish at 2,677.30 after trading between 2,677.07 and 2,721.63. Volume was 431 million shares worth 12.7 trillion won. There were 673 decliners and 220 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.54 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.30 percent, Hana Financial lost 0.32 percent, Samsung Electronics plunged 3.09 percent, Samsung SDI surrendered 4.82 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.10 percent, Naver slumped 1.18 percent, LG Chem plummeted 5.24 percent, Lotte Chemical crashed 7.37 percent, S-Oil fell 0.29 percent, SK Innovation tumbled 2.76 percent, POSCO tanked 2.35 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.39 percent, KEPCO skidded 1.11 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.68 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.51 percent, Kia Motors slid 0.33 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened firmly lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 411.32 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 38,441.54, while the NASDAQ slumped 99.30 points or 0.58 percent to close at 16,920.58 and the S&P 500 sank 39.09 points or 0.74 percent to end at 5,266.95.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid a continued increase by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note climbing to its highest levels in nearly a month.

The continued advance by treasury yields has added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of key inflation data later in the week.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for interest rates, and the likely adverse impact high borrowing costs will have on energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.