South Korea Bourse Tipped To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 30 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,220-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the shares and chemical companies, while the technology, oil and automobile stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index dropped 19.35 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 2,218.09 after trading between 2,200.44 and 2,231.52. Volume was 1.1 billion shares worth 8.1 trillion won. There were 607 decliners and 273 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.35 percent, KB Financial tumbled 2.92 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.89 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.54 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.74 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.91 percent, LG Chem surrendered 4.05 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 5.31 percent, S-Oil soared 2.47 percent, SK Innovation plunged 5.20 percent, POSCO skidded 1.18 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.92 percent, KEPCO declined 1.76 percent, Hyundai Mobis shed 0.72 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.30 percent, Kia Motors sank 0.87 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to hold early gains, heading south by midday and finishing at daily lows.

The Dow slumped 90.22 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 30,333.59, while the NASDAQ shed 65.66 points or 0.61 percent to end at 10,614.84 and the S&P 500 lost 29.38 points or 0.80 percent to close at 3,665.78.

Stocks initially benefited from another batch of upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like IBM Corp. (IBM) and AT&T (T).

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, with a continued surge in treasury yields contributing to the subsequent pullback by the markets. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note extended recent gains, reaching its highest levels in over fourteen years.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to drive yields higher, with Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker saying that he expects the Fed to continue raising rates "for a while."

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in early November, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4.0 percent.

Crude oil futures for November delivery settled higher on their expiration day as traders weighed energy demand and supply positions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.43 or 0.5 percent at $85.98 a barrel on the expiration day. But WTI Crude oil futures for December eased to $84.51 a barrel.