South Korea Shares May Extend Thursday’s Losses

The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 420 points or 8 percent. The KOSPI sits just above the 5,160-point plateau and it’s expected to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on disappointing data and continued weakness from technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished with heavy losses on Thursday, particularly among the chemical, technology and automobile companies while the financial sector was mixed.

For the day, the index plunged 207.53 points or 3.86 percent to finish at 5,163.57 after trading between 5,142.20 and 5,304.40. Volume was 904.7 million shares worth 32.2 trillion won. There were 575 decliners and 308 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.66 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.83 percent, Hana Financial vaulted 1.43 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 5.80 percent, Samsung SDI declined 1.53 percent, LG Electronics tanked 2.43 percent, SK Hynix plunged 6.44 percent, Naver contracted 2.84 percent, LG Chem surrendered 1.89 percent, Lotte Chemical cratered 11.48 percent, SK Innovation slumped 2.57 percent, POSCO Holdings advanced 0.96 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.51 percent, KEPCO skidded 1.28 percent, Hyundai Mobis crashed 3.34 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 3.08 percent and Kia Motors fell 0.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent the entire session in the red, ending near daily lows.

The Dow tumbled 592.58 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 48,908.72, while the NASDAQ sank 363.99 points or 1.59 percent to end at 22,540.59 and the S&P 500 shed 84.32 points or 1.23 percent to close at 6,798.40.

Weakness among tech stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street amid losses from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Qualcomm (QCOM), which provided disappointing guidance.

Tech stocks have moved sharply lower over the past few sessions amid concerns about valuations and the impact of artificial intelligence.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week. The Labor Department also said job openings in the U.S. unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over five years in December.

Crude oil prices plunged on Thursday after weak U.S. jobs data increased demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.87 or 2.87 percent at $63.27 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide December data for its current account later this morning; in November, the current account had a surplus of $12.24 billion.