(RTTNews) - The South Korean stock market is down sharply in the red on Wednesday with investors turning extremely cautious ahead of some important earnings and economic reports. The mixed close on Wall Street overnight on the back of a decline in consumer confidence is also seen hurting sentiment to a notable extent.

Shipbuilding and technology stocks are the prominent losers. Automobile, oil and steel stocks are also trading notably lower. The benchmark KOSPI index, which opened flat at 1,648.8, is currently down 30.5 points, or 1.85%, at 1619.

Among shipping stocks, Hyundai Heavy Industries is down 4%, Samsung Heavy Industries is trading lower by 5% and Daewoo Shipbuilding is down with a 3.3% loss, while bulk carrier STX Pan Ocean is declining by about 5.3%.

In the tech space, heavyweight Samsung Electronics is trading 1.7% down and Hynix Semiconductor is down 1.3%, while LG Display LCD and LG Electronics are trading lower by 2.3% and 3.8% respectively.

Automobile stocks Kia Motor, Hyundai Motor and Ssangyong Motor are down 1.5%-3% from Tuesday’s closing prices. Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are trading lower by 3.4% and 3% respectively.

Among bank stocks, KB Financial is down with a loss of 1.2%. Korea Exchange Bank is up with a small gain, while Woori Finance and Shinhan Financial are trading modestly lower. Oil, telecom and airliners are trading weak.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Japan are trading notably lower, while Shanghai and Taiwan are down with modest losses. New Zealand is bucking the trend and is trading modestly higher.

On Wall Street, stocks moved in a choppy fashion on Tuesday, as weak consumer confidence and positive news on the housing market diverged trader sentiment. The major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing notably lower.

While the Dow ended up 14.2 points, or 0.1%, at 9,882.2, the S&P 500 closed lower by 3.5 points, or 0.3%, at 1,063.4 and the Nasdaq ended with a loss of 25.8 points, or 1.2%, at 2,116.

Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index posted modest losses, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up 0.2%.

Crude oil prices turned higher on Tuesday amid choppy trading as traders awaited the Energy Information Administration’s inventory data. Light sweet crude for December closed at US$79.55, up 87 cents on the session.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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