South Korea Shares Called To Open Lower On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, tumbling more than 90 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI market now rests just above the 2,4350-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Wednesday with damage in all sectors, especially the financials, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index stumbled 61.69 points or 2.47 percent to finish 2,435.90. Volume was 950.6 million shares worth 11.01 trillion won. There were 850 decliners and 70 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.81 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 2.54 percent, Hana Financial slid 0.60 percent, Samsung Electronics sank 2.20 percent, Samsung SDI weakened 4.05 percent, LG Electronics skidded 3.49 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.83 percent, Naver crashed 4.78 percent, LG Chem plummeted 5.44 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 3.65 percent, S-Oil slumped 1.37 percent, SK Innovation lost 3.68 percent, POSCO plunged 4.23 percent, SK Telecom added 0.61 percent, KEPCO dropped 1.35 percent, Hyundai Mobis surrendered 3.52 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 2.36 percent and Kia Motors stumbled 2.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way, although they managed to finish well off session lows.

The Dow dropped 94.45 point or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,266.67, while the NASDAQ slumped 88.72 points or 0.59 percent to close at 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 lost 26.77 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,739.21.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won't lower rates as early as previously hoped.

Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in December.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve also showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production last month.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel.