Korean stock market opens bearish on oil slump

Korean share prices opened lower on Wednesday after oil prices slumped on hints from the Saudi Arabian oil minister that there would be no output cut.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.42 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,910.8 in the first 15 minutes of trading. 

However, the index surged to positive territory in late morning trading. As of 11:01 a.m., it was trading 3.53 percent higher at 1917.75 points.

Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday after a rebound. That was after Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi dashed hopes for oil production cuts during a conference in Houston.

Construction and chemical shares were both in negative terrain.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction fell 2.04 percent, while Korea Plant Service & Engineering, a subsidiary under state power provider KEPCO, tumbled 16.25 percent on weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

But tech shares such as SK hynix and LG Electronics were up.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)