Ahead of Thursday's holiday for Liberation Day, the South Korea stock market had bounced higher again - one day after it had ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 35 points or 1.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 1,940-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Friday as it catches up on missed sentiment.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic as Thursday's selloff on recession fears may have been overdone. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher - and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks, weakness from the automobile producers and a mixed bag from the financial sector.
For the day, the index added 12.54 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 1,938.37 after trading between 1,937.23 and 1,952.22. Volume was 687 million shares worth 4.92 trillion won. There were 510 gainers and 316 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.12 percent, while KB Financial advanced 1.18 percent, Hana Financial retreated 1.26 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.63 percent, LG Electronics added 0.50 percent, SK Hynix spiked 3.22 percent, LG Chem surged 4.69 percent, POSCO perked 0.24 percent, SK Telecom gained 1.27 percent, KEPCO rose 0.60 percent, Hyundai Motors skidded 1.16 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.23 percent.
The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Thursday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.
The Dow added 99.97 points or 0.39 percent to 25,579.39, while the NASDAQ fell 7.32 points or 0.09 percent to 7,766.62 and the S&) 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.25 percent to 2,847.60.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested an avalanche of economic data, including mixed reports on retail sales and industrial output.
The Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales climbed by much more than expected in July, but the Federal Reserve unexpectedly noted a modest drop in industrial production in July.
Also, the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserves saw continued growth in manufacturing activity in August, while the Labor Department reported a bigger than expected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.
Crude oil prices saw further downside on Thursday, extending losses from the previous day on continued concerns about the outlook for global demand. China's threat to retaliate against U.S. tariffs weighed heavily on oil prices as West Texas Intermediate fell $0.48 or 0.87 percent to $54.47.
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