(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,440-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of key U.S. employment data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday, weighed again by the political chaos that has gripped the country. Damage was broadly based, although the financials were hit particularly hard.
For the day, the index sank 22.15 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 2,441.85. Volume was 502.49 million shares worth 9.29 trillion won. There were 724 decliners and 175 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plunged 5.50 percent, while KB Financial crashed 10.06 percent, Hana Financial tanked 3.25 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.13 percent, Samsung SDI declined 2.90 percent, LG Electronics weakened 1.49 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.98 percent, Naver improved 0.74 percent, LG Chem tumbled 3.99 percent, Lotte Chemical cratered 4.29 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.59 percent, POSCO surrendered 2.38 percent, SK Telecom sank 1.02 percent, KEPCO eased 0.23 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.63 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 2.15 percent and Kia Motors plummeted 4.18 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat on Thursday and hugged the line for much of the day before slipping under water heading into the close.
The Dow slumped248.33 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 44,765.71, while the NASDAQ shed 34.86 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,700.26 and the S&P 600 fell 11.38 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,075.11.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
The jobs data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.
While traders have recently expressed greater confidence the Fed will lower rates by another 25 basis points at the December meeting, there remains uncertainty about the likelihood of continued rate cuts at future meetings.
Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed by weak demand from China and rising production in the United States - although the downside was limited by OPEC's decision to delay a production increase. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January fell $0.24 or 0.4 percent at $68.30 a barrel.
Closer to home, South Korea will provide October data for current account later this morning; in September, the current account surplus was $11.12 billion.
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