The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 30 points or 1.2 percent. The KOSPI remains just above the 2,565-point plateau although it may head south again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of U.S. non-farm payroll data due out later today - although upside from crude oil prices offers mild support. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the steel companies were capped by weakness from the financial shares and automobile producers.
For the day, the index picked up 2.08 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,568.54 after trading between 2,564.59 and 2,583.74. Volume was 588 million shares worth 7.77 trillion won.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.31 percent, while Woori Bank lost 0.59 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.16 percent, LG Electronics advanced 0.98 percent, SK hynix climbed 1.22 percent, Naver spiked 1.43 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.93 percent, Kia Motors skidded 0.87 percent, POSCO soared 3.81 percent, Hyundai Steel jumped 1.58 percent, Daewoo Shipbuilding plummeted 3.30 percent and Hyundai Heavy picked up 0.72 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as stocks showed a lack of direction on Thursday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.
The Dow added 37.32 points or 0.14 percent to 26,186.71, while the NASDAQ fell 25.62 points or 0.35 percent to 7,385.86 and the S&P 500 fell 1.83 points or 0.06 percent to 2,821.98.
The choppy trading came as traders were reluctant to make big moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in labor productivity in the fourth quarter, although the report also showed a sharp jump in labor costs.
The Labor Department also saw a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 27. Also, the Institute for Supply Management reported a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in manufacturing activity in January.
Crude oil prices rebounded Thursday amid signs that OPEC is complying with supply quotas. The cartel is trying to re-balance oil markets by curbing production, but U.S. drillers are picking up the slack. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 92 cents at $65.62 a barrel, near its recent four-year highs.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com