The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sliding almost 45 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,360-point plateau and it's likely to see continued consolidation again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian is negative on rising coronavirus cases and falling hopes for stimulus. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow suit.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the automobile producers and oil companies were offset by support from the financials and chemical companies.
For the day, the index lost 19.27 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 2,361.21 after trading between 2,348.74 and 2,376.73. Volume was 1.1 billion shares worth 12.8 trillion won. There were 583 gainers and 279 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.36 percent, while KB Financial added 0.77 percent, Hana Financial increased 0.69 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.48 percent, SK Hynix gained 0.69 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.17 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.43 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 1.37 percent, S-Oil eased 0.18 percent, SK Innovation sank 1.05 percent, POSCO perked 2.24 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.74 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.71 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 1.12 percent, Kia Motors lost 0.51 percent and LG Electronics was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened sharply lower on Friday, then cut into the losses as the session progressed but still finished in the red for the second straight day.
The Dow fell 19.80 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 28,494.20, while the NASDAQ lost 54.86 points or 0.47 percent to end at 11,713.87 and the S&P 500 eased 5.33 points or 0.15 percent to close at 3,483.34.
The initial sell-off on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about a new stimulus bill after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested on Wednesday that a new relief package is not likely to pass before next month's elections.
Early selling pressure was also generated by a Labor Department report showing an unexpected increase in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week.
However, stocks rebounded well off their lows after Mnuchin told reporters that he and President Donald Trump are committed to getting a stimulus deal done.
Crude oil prices rebounded from early weakness to pare most of their losses on Thursday after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.08 or 0.2 percent at $40.96 a barrel.
Closer to home, South Korea will provide unemployment data for September later this morning; in August, the jobless rate was 3.2 percent.
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