The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day slide in which it had given up almost 20 points or 0.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,690-point plateau although its likely to see renewed selling pressure on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the automobile companies, losses from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index rose 0.58 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 2,689.83. Volume was 276.4 million shares worth 10.4 trillion won. There were 625 decliners and 260 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plunged 3.52 percent, while KB Financial surrendered 2.28 percent, Hana Financial plummeted 4.09 percent, Samsung Electronics improved 0.79 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.44 percent, LG Electronics fell 0.30 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.46 percent, Naver slumped 2.44 percent, LG Chem retreated 1.72 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.64 percent, S-Oil stumbled 1.41 percent, SK Innovation tanked 2.73 percent, POSCO dropped 2.75 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.53 percent, KEPCO sank 0.88 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 0.90 percent, Hyundai Motor surged 4.65 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 2.75 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and mostly remained under water throughout the trading day.
The Dow dropped 159.08 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 41,091.42, while the NASDAQ sank 198.79 points or 1.12 percent to end at 17,556.03 and the S&P 500 lost 33.62 points or 0.60 percent to close at 5,592.18.
The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected anxiety ahead of the release of market leader Nvidias (NVDA) fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading.
After the markets closed, Nvidia showed a profit for its second quarter that increased from last year and beat estimates.
Stocks were also under pressure as traders looked ahead to Fridays Commerce Department report on personal income and spending in July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.
Crude oil futures dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $1.01 or 1.34 percent at $74.52 a barrel.