The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in seven straight sessions, jumping more than 190 points or 6.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,030-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with profit taking expected particularly among the oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets finished lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and oil companies.
For the day, the index advanced 27.77 points or 0.93 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,029.57 after trading as low as 3,001.55. Volume was 496 million shares worth 12 trillion won. There were 656 gainers and 187 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.27 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.17 percent, Hana Financial was up 0.23 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.03 percent, LG Electronics slid 0.40 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.92 percent, Naver advanced 1.14 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 0.89 percent, S-Oil accelerated 1.70 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.24 percent, POSCO jumped 1.72 percent, SK Telecom rallied 1.45 percent, KEPCO added 0.68 percent, Hyundai Motor fell 0.24 percent and Kia Motors improved 1.08 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday. The Dow moved into the green for a time before ending flat, while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished solidly in the red.
The Dow eased 0.06 points to finish at 25,754.69, while the NASDAQ tumbled 269.62 points or 1.71 percent to close at 15,517.37 and the S&P 500 dropped 33.76 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,667.45.
The pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, which saw stocks recover strongly from the post-Thanksgiving sell-off triggered by the detection of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
With concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant easing, traders are now looking ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. Reports suggest the Fed could decide to double the pace of tapering its asset purchase program to $30 billion per month.
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time jobless claims pulled back by much more than expected last week.
Crude oil settled lower Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following several countries imposing fresh restrictions on movements to curb the spread of Omicron. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $1.42 or 2 percent at $70.94 a barrel.
Market Analysis
South Korea Bourse Ripe For Consolidation
2021-12-09 23:04:04
