The South Korea stock market has finished higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering almost 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI sits just beneath the 3,250-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support from oil and technology stocks in particular. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the technology and industrial stocks were capped by weakness from the financial sector.
For the day, the index climbed 24.68 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 3,249.32 after trading between 3,226.98 and 3,251.58. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 17.6 trillion won. There were 517 gainers and 335 decliners,
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial and KB Financial both shed 0.35 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.33 percent, LG Electronics advanced 1.00 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.07 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 4.59 percent, Naver dipped 0.27 percent, LG Chem surged 5.33 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 0.56 percent, S-Oil tanked 2.42 percent, SK Innovation rallied 1.86 percent, POSCO accelerated 4.64 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.83 percent, KEPCO added 0.58 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.06 percent, Kia Motors gained 0.67 percent and Samsung Electronics was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up being mildly positive as stocks opened higher on Friday but quickly dropped into the red before a late recovery saw them finish with mild upside.
The Dow added 13.36 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 34,479.60, while the NASDAQ gained 49.09 points or 0.35 percent to end at 14,069.42 and the S&P 500 rose 8.26 points or 0.19 percent to close at 4,247.44. For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.8 percent, the Dow fell 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.4 percent.
Traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting. The Fed is widely expected to leave its monetary policy unchanged, but traders will be looking for any clues the central bank is considering tapering its asset purchases.
In economic news, the University of Michigan reported a bigger than expected rebound in its consumer sentiment index in June.
Crude oil prices moved higher Friday on rising expectations that global energy demand will pick up thanks to accelerating in vaccination rollouts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July settled at $70.91 a barrel, gaining $0.62 or 0.9 percent. For the week, WTI Crude futures rose 1.9 percent, rising for a third straight week.
Market Analysis
South Korea Bourse Tipped To Extend Winning Streak
2021-06-13 23:00:18
