The South Korea stock market turned back to the upside again on Wednesday, one session after it had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 25 points or 1.2 percent. Now at a fresh six-month closing high, the KOSPI finished just below the 2,030-point plateau, and now traders are expected to lock in gains when the market opens on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation thanks to renewed concerns over the lingering debt situation in Europe. Uninspired economic and corporate earnings news from the United States adds to the cautious sentiment. Financials and technology stocks figure to weigh on investors, while gold and oil shares should provide support. The European and U.S. markets finished lower on Wednesday, and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the telecoms and oil companies were dented by weakness from the financial and pharmaceutical sectors. For the day, the index added 4.41 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 2,028.65 after trading between 2,015.30 and 2,028.93. Among the gainers, SK Innovation collected 2.38 percent, while S-Oil surged 4.6 percent, LG UPlus surged 8.38 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.44 percent, Hyundai Mobis climbed 1.62 percent and Mando Corp spiked 1.85 percent. Moving lower, Boryung Pharmaceuticals shed 3.34 percent, while Green Cross lost 2.69 percent, Hana Financial Group dropped 2.44 percent and Woori Finance Holdings retreated 2.05 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is modestly negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Wednesday, although selling pressure was relatively subdued. Lingering concerns about the outlook for the European economy weighed on the markets once again.
The weakness followed a report showing a contraction in private sector activity in the Eurozone, which added to recent concerns about a recession. Markit Economics revealed that its index of Eurozone private sector activity unexpectedly dipped below the '50' cut-off mark to 49.7 in February.
Traders also reacted to news that Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating to 'C' from 'CCC' following the Eurozone's agreement on a second bailout for the country. Fitch said a default is highly likely in the near term.
On the corporate front, luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL) came under pressure after reporting a first quarter loss of $0.02 per share compared to analyst estimates for a profit of $0.02 per share. Meanwhile, Brocade (BRCD) rose by 2.7 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings and issuing in-line guidance for its second quarter.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a notable increase in existing home sales in January, although the report also showed a significant downward revision to the data for December.
The major averages posted modest losses on the day after ending the previous session mixed. The Dow edged down 27.02 points or 0.2 percent to finish at 12,938.67, while the NASDAQ fell 15.40 points or 0.5 percent to 2,933.17 and the S&P 500 slipped 4.55 points or 0.3 percent to 1,357.66.
In economic news, credit extended to households in South Korea grew at a slower pace during the December quarter, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday. The year-on-year rate of growth rate in total household credit outstanding eased to 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter from 8.7 percent from the third quarter.
Total household credit outstanding rose by 22.3 trillion won during the fourth quarter of 2011 and stood at 912.9 trillion won at the end of December. During the fourth quarter, household loans increased 7.6 percent year-on-year, while merchandise credit climbed 10.9 percent. Household loans totaled 858.1 trillion won at the end of the year and merchandise credit amounted to 54.8 trillion won.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.