South Korea Stock Market May See Renewed Selling Pressure

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had given up almost 170 points or 4.1 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 4,050-point plateau although it may head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over the viability of the technology companies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks, chemical companies and industrials.

For the day, the index jumped 57.28 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 4,056.41 after trading between 3,994.65 and 4,060.24. Volume was 354.2 million shares worth 12.7 trillion won. There were 531 gainers and 343 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.79 percent, while KB Financial added 0.49 percent, Hana Financial gained 0.54 percent, Samsung Electronics soared 4.96 percent, Samsung SDI stumbled 2.39 percent, LG Electronics rallied 3.44 percent, SK Hynix vaulted 3.96 percent, Naver fell 0.22 percent, LG Chem spiked 2.82 percent, Lotte Chemical skyrocketed 7.64 percent, SK Innovation improved 0.64 percent, POSCO Holdings jumped 1.79 percent, KEPCO expanded 1.79 percent, Hyundai Mobis climbed 1.40 percent, Kia Motors increased 0.58 percent and Hyundai Motor and SK Telecom were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly headed south and spent the balance of the day under water.

The Dow dropped 228.29 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 47,885.97, while the NASDAQ plunged 418.14 points or 1.81 percent to close at 22,693.32 and the S&P 500 sank 78.83 points or 1.16 percent to end at 6,721.43.

The sharp pullback seen as the day progressed came amid renewed weakness among technology stocks, as reflected by the steep drop by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 3.8 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Computer hardware stocks and networking stocks also slumped.

On the other hand, energy stocks turned in a strong performance as the price of crude oil rebounds from its lowest levels since early 2021.

The rebound by the price of crude oil comes after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.70 or 1.3 percent to end at $55.97 per barrel.