Tech Weakness Poised to Drag South Korea Shares Lower; KOSPI Falls 3.52%

South Korea's stock market may extend losses on Friday after the KOSPI tumbled 201.80 points, or 3.52%, to close at 5,533.77 on Thursday, weighed down by financial, technology, industrial and mineral shares. Volume totaled 201.17 million shares worth 13.7 trillion won, with 706 decliners against 174 gainers. The index had peaked at 5,740.28 for the session. The global forecast for Asian markets is negative amid rising oil prices and continued pressure on technology sectors, with European and U.S. markets mostly lower on Thursday. On Wall Street, the NASDAQ plunged 694.00 points, or 2.60%, to 26,008.86 and the S&P 500 slumped 93.74 points, or 1.21%, to 7,663.43, while the Dow edged up 11.89 points, or 0.02%, to 52,867.98. Tech stocks including Nvidia (NVDA), CoreWeave (CRWV), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) fell on liquidity concerns tied to debt-fueled AI infrastructure spending. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery rose $2.19, or 2.25%, to $99.34 a barrel on supply-disruption fears.