South Korea Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, plunging more than 170 points or 6.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,510-point plateau and it's due for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial sector were offset by support from the chemicals and a mixed performance from the technology shares.

For the day, the index shed 10.06 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 2,513.37 after trading between 2,493.37 and 2,526.13. Volume was 294.1 million shares worth 9.4 trillion won. There were 525 decliners and 343 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plummeted 6.18 percent, while KB Financial plunged 6.03 percent, Hana Financial tanked 6.50 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.96 percent, Samsung SDI skyrocketed 9.91 percent, LG Electronics eased 0.10 percent, SK Hynix and SK Innovation both climbed 1.09 percent, Naver retreated 1.64 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.94 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 2.60 percent, S-Oil surrendered 1.88 percent, POSCO soared 3.32 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.76 percent, KEPCO added 0.69 percent, Hyundai Mobis dropped 1.42 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 3.25 percent and Kia Motors slumped 3.99 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and trended steadily higher throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.75 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 40,861.71, while the NASDAQ surged 369.65 points or 2.17 percent to end at 17,395.53 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.61 points or 1.07 percent to close at 5,554.13.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched consumer price inflation report for August.

While the report showed consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates, core consumer prices rose slightly more than expected.

Stocks moved sharply lower as the data seemingly reduced the chances that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates by 50 basis points next week. But selling pressure waned dramatically over the course session as the Fed is still expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months.

Crude oil prices surged higher on Wednesday, recovering from a three-year low in the previous session thanks to fears of prolonged production shutdowns in the offshore oil patch due to Hurricane Francine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $1.56 or 2.37 percent at $67.31 a barrel.