The South Korean market is trading marginally lower on Thursday with investors treading cautiously despite a positive close on Wall Street overnight and a fairly steady trend across market in the Asia-Pacific region.
The benchmark KOSPI index, which rose to 1,790.5 after opening modestly higher, is currently in negative territory at 1,777, down 2.2 points or 0.12% from its previous close.
The South Korean central bank today decided to hold interest rates at the current level of 2.25%, surprising many analysts who had expected a hike of 25 basis points to 2.5%. Most analysts were expecting the move on rates following last month's pause after the central bank had unexpectedly raised rates by 25 basis points from the record low of 2% on July 9.
The rate had held steady for 16 straight months, after the bank had trimmed rates six times in the previous four months.
Meanwhile, South Korea's economic growth appears to have firmed going into the September quarter, with the latest industry and retail sales numbers showing strength, although trade slowed due to seasonal factors. While headline inflation stagnated at 2.6% in August, core inflation picked up to 1.8% from 1.7% in July. The central bank has an inflation target of 3%, with a tolerance range of plus or minus 1 percentage point.
Bank stocks are trading mostly in positive territory. Woori Finance and KB Financial are up with modest gains and Shinhan Financial is gaining about 1.7%, while Korea Exchange Bank is down 0.6% from its previous closing price.
Among technology stocks, Hynix Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics are down 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively. LG Display LCD is up 1.5%, while LG Electronics is trading flat.
In the shipping space, STX Pan Ocean, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Hyundai Heavy Industries are up 0.5%-1%, while Samsung Heavy Industries is trading flat.
Automobile stocks are trading weak. Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are up 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Among Oil stocks, SK Holdings is up 1.3% and S-Oil is gaining about 2%. KEPCO is up with a modest gain of 0.6%.
Airliners Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are trading lower by 3.2% and 4%, respectively. Telecommunications stocks are trading mixed.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan are trading notably higher. Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan are up marginally, while Shanghai and New Zealand are trading weak. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved higher on Wednesday amid some relief buying following news of continued albeit slower U.S. economic recovery as seen by the Federal Reserve and solid demand for Portugal's bond offerings.
The major averages saw considerable volatility in late-session dealings but still managed to close on the upside. The Dow gained 46.3 points or 0.4% to end at 10,387, the Nasdaq advanced by about 20 points or 0.9% to 2,228.9 and the S&P 500 ended up 7 points or 0.6% at 1,098.9.
Major European markets saw solid gains on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index gained 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended 0.4% up.
Crude oil prices surged higher on Wednesday, but gains were tempered after the Federal Reserve acknowledged signs of deceleration in the pace of U.S. economic recovery. Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled up US$0.58 at US$74.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.