Tech Shares May Boost South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday halted the five-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 60 points or 2.5 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,430-point plateau although it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast is mixed to higher as markets are expected to recover from selling pressure earlier this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index dropped 31.44 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 2,431.91 after trading between 2,426.52 and 2,442.61. Volume was 413.6 million shares worth 9.5 trillion won. There were 697 decliners and 195 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.54 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.39 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.68 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.66 percent, LG Electronics rallied 2.71 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.36 percent, Naver crashed 4.03 percent, LG Chem tumbled 3.38 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 3.02 percent, S-Oil plummeted 3.45 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 3.34 percent, POSCO tumbled 1.79 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.58 percent, KEPCO skidded1.06 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.15 percent, Hyundai Motor eased 0.11 percent and Kia Motors jumped 1.68 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as spent most of Wednesday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, finally finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow lost 58.06 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 32,798.40, while the NASDAQ gained 45.67 points or 0.40 percent to close at 11,576.00 and the S&P 500 perked 5.64 points or 0.14 percent to end at 3,992.01.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following Tuesday's sell-off, which reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased more than expected in February. Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. fell to 10.8 million in January from 11.2 million in December.

Crude oil prices slipped on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about outlook for energy demand following Powell's remarks to Congress. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.92 or 1.2 percent at $76.66 a barrel.