AI Concerns May Continue To Drag KOSPI Lower

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 280 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,380-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on surging oil prices and AI concerns. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following heavy damage among the technology stocks, while the automobile and retail sectors also were down.

For the day, the index plummeted 300 points or 5.28 percent to finish at 5,383.80. Volume was 256.8 million shares worth 22.6 trillion won. There were 534 decliners and 344 gainers.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but trended sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 1,833.06 points or 3.44 percent to finish at 51,523.06, while the NASDAQ crashed 1,421.52 points or 5.52 percent to close at 24,315.00 and the S&P 500 tumbled 334.89 points or 4.36 percent to end at 7,353.73.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came amid a renewed sell-off in the tech sector, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ plummeting into contraction territory on concerns about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade amid expected tighter regulation.

Semiconductor stocks showed a particularly steep drop, resulting in a 12.3 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Considerable weakness was is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 10 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week; the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on October's employment situation later today.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as investors look for the next steps to resolve the U.S.-Iran standoff - either through diplomacy or hostility. West Texas Intermediate crude for December was up $2.29 or 2.60 percent at $90.41 per barrel.