Tech Shares May Weigh On South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the three-day slide in which it had given up almost 20 points or 0.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,660-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later in the day. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares, chemicals and industrials.

For the day, the index slumped 27.55 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 2,662.28 after trading between 2,649.56 and 2,672.90. Volume was 284.7 million shares worth 11.3 trillion won. There were 590 decliners and 280 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.87 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.28 percent, Hana Financial shed 0.47 percent, Samsung Electronics surrendered 3.14 percent, Samsung SDI surged 5.60 percent, LG Electronics slumped 1.02 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 5.35 percent, Naver gained 0.67 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.23 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 0.83 percent, S-Oil sank 0.79 percent, SK Innovation climbed 1.03 percent, POSCO jumped 1.78 percent, SK Telecom skidded 1.08 percent, KEPCO retreated 1.33 percent, Hyundai Mobis tanked 2.01 percent, Hyundai Motor dipped 0.19 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.91 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and spent much of the day solidly in the green - before a late slump saw them end mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 243.63 points or 0.59 percent to finish at a record 41,335.05, while the NASDAQ sank 39.60 points or 0.23 percent to close at 17,516.43 and the S&P 500 eased 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to end at 5,591.96.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing the U.S. economy unexpectedly grew more than previously estimated in the second quarter.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week.

Buying interest waned in the latter part of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation later today.

The downturn by the tech-heavy NASDAQ also came as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slumped even though the company reported Q2 results that exceeded expectations and forecast fiscal third quarter revenues above estimates.

Oil prices settled sharply higher on Thursday on supply concerns amid reports Libya has shut off production and halted exports at several ports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October climbed $1.39 or 1.87 percent at $75.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide July numbers for industrial production and retail sales later today. Production is expected to slip 0.6 percent on month but rise 7.5 percent on year after adding 0.5 percent on month and 3/8 percent on year in June. Sales were up 1.0 percent in June.