South Korea Stock Market May Head South Again

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday emphatically halted the three-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,200 points or 20 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,580-point plateau although it may hand back some of those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over surging energy prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished with enormous gains across the board, posting the largest single-day point spike and second-largest percentage jump in history.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 490.36 points or 9.63 percent to finish at 5,583.90 after trading between 5,248.13 and 5,715.30. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 44.8 trillion won. There were 898 gainers and 21 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 4.62 percent, while KB Financial rallied 8.21 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 5.40 percent, Samsung Electronics skyrocketed 11.27 percent, Samsung SDI soared 11.81 percent, LG Electronics improved 5.87 percent, SK Hynix surged 10.84 percent, Naver advanced 5.77 percent, LG Chem gained 5.70 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 1.67 percent, SK Innovation spiked 16.06 percent, POSCO Holdings increased 7.78 percent, SK Telecom expanded 10.81 percent, KEPCO added 5.82 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 8.27 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 9.38 percent and Kia Motors vaulted 6.19 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent all day in the red, although ending off session lows.

The Dow tumbled 784.67 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 47,954.74, while the NASDAQ sank 58.50 points or 0.26 percent to close at 22,748.99 and the S&P 500 lost 38.79 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,830.71.

Concerns about the impact of sharply higher energy prices weighed on Wall Street, as the price of crude oil resumed the surge seen early in the week.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed again on Thursday, resuming the surge seen earlier in the week in reaction to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $6.51 or 8.7 percent to $81.17 a barrel and has soared $14.15 or 21.1 percent so far this week.

Iran has claimed it struck a U.S. oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, raising fears of a wider conflict after the Islamic republic threatened to halt shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying the war could last up to eight weeks but might be over sooner.