The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 85 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,120-point plateau and it's expected to take further damage again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is soft due to coronavirus relief package concerns and heavy speculative trading. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials and technology stocks, while the industrials and oil and chemical companies were mixed.
For the day, the index sank 17.75 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 3,122.56 after trading between 3,118.89 and 3,182.53. Volume was 905 million shares worth 19.4 trillion won. There were 574 decliners and 293 gainers.
Among the actives, KB Financial retreated 1.40 percent, while Hana Financial slid 0.28 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.27 percent, LG Electronics sank 1.76 percent, while SK Hynix fell 0.39 percent, Samsung SDI eased 0.13 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.83 percent, Lotte Chemical advanced 0.89 percent, S-Oil rose 0.14 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 2.26 percent, POSCO perked 0.78 percent, SK Telecom declined 1.18 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.82 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.39 percent, Kia Motors gained 0.33 percent and Shinhan Financial was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks opened sharply lower on Wednesday and the losses accelerated going into the close.
The Dow plunged 633 points or 2.05 percent to finish at 30,303.17, while the NASDAQ tumbled 355.47 points or 2.61 percent to end at 13,270.60 and the S&P 500 dropped 98.85 points or 2.57 percent to close at 3,750.77.
The sell-off on Wall Street came as traders worried about recent speculative trading by retail investors amid continued spikes by heavily shorted stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment (AMC) - which skyrocketed on the day, leading to concerns hedge funds may need to sell other securities to offset their mounting losses.
Stocks sank further following the Federal Reserve's first monetary policy announcement of the year. The Fed left interest rates unchanged as expected and will maintain its asset purchase program at the current pace. But traders were disappointed the central bank did not provide clarity about the outlook for its bond purchases.
In earnings news, shares of aerospace leader Boeing (BA) and coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX) tumbled after disappointing reports, while shares of Microsoft (MSFT) ticked higher after beating the street.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured durable goods rose by much less than expected in December.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday after data showed a substantial drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week, although the upside was limited by ongoing demand concerns caused by the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.24 or 0.5 percent at $52.85 a barrel.
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