KOSPI May Challenge Resistance At 2,700 Points

The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two of three sessions since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 70 points or 2.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,670-point plateau and it’s tipped to extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected especially from oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index climbed 28.43 points or 1.08 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,667.49 after moving as low as 2,638.37. Volume was 885.1 billion shares worth 12.3 trillion won. There were 491 gainers and 366 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 3.03 percent, while KB Financial jumped 2.07 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.92 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.31 percent, Samsung SDI improved 1.36 percent, LG Electronics strengthened 0.85 percent, LG Display plummeted 5.75 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.92 percent, LG Chem skyrocketed 8.42 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 3.18 percent, S-Oil lost 0.48 percent, SK Innovation added 0.70 percent, POSCO surged 4.32 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.18 percent, KEPCO soared 8.55 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.80 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.48 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday but accelerated throughout the day, finishing near session highs.

The Dow surged 614.46 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 33,916.39, while the NASDAQ soared 382.59 points or 3.06 percent to close at 12,871.53 and the S&P 500 spiked 103.54 points or 2.47 percent to end at 4,287.50.

The rally on Wall Street came as upbeat earnings news overshadowed a disappointing report on the U.S. economy; results from companies like Meta (FB), Qualcomm (QCOM), McDonald’s (MCD), Merck (MRK), and Eli Lilly (LLY) led the way.

Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic activity unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of 2022.

Some traders may have interpreted the data as a sign the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as aggressively as currently expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday amid concerns over supply due to the possible impact of sanctions on Russia’s crude oil production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $3.34 or 3.3 percent at $105.36 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release March numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. In February, industrial production was up 0.6 percent on month and 6.5 percent on year, while retail sales rose 0.1 percent on month and 1.6 percent on year.