South Korea Shares May Open In The Red On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 25 points or 0.9 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,625-point plateau, although it's likely to hand back those gains again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over rising bond yields. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open under pressure.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks, chemicals and industrials.

For the day, the index advanced 23.78 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 2,625.58. Volume was 367 million shares worth 7.34 trillion won. There were 537 gainers and 334 decliners.

Among the actives, KB Financial jumped 1.77 percent, while Hana Financial fell 0.30 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.36 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.50 percent, LG Electronics dipped 0.28 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.74 percent, Naver eased 0.11 percent, LG Chem slumped 0.90 percent, Lotte Chemical perked 0.18 percent, SK Innovation slid 0.24 percent, POSCO Holdings was down 0.21 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.19 percent, KEPCO gained 0.69 percent, Hyundai Mobis dipped 0.20 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.79 percent and Kia Motors and Shinhan Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 816.80 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 41,860.44, while the NASDAQ dropped 270.07 points or 1.41 percent to close at 18,872.64 and the S&P 500 sank 95.85 points or 1.61 percent to end at 5,844.61.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of a continued increase by bond yields, with the 30-year bond yield climbing above 5 percent due to concerns a new U.S. tax bill could worsen the country's deficit.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill is one step closer to a full vote in the House of Representatives, with economists warning the proposal would add more than $2.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Treasury yields saw further upside after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds attracted below average demand.

Crude oil futures fell under pressure Wednesday after a report released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery slid $0.46 to 0.7 percent to $61.57 a barrel.