South Korea Shares May See Continued Support

The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered just 7 points or 0.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just shy of the 2,440-point plateau and it’s looking at another green light for Friday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after selling and uncertainty earlier in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index advanced 21.41 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 2,439.09. Volume was 393.06 million shares worth 7.33 trillion won. There were 510 gainers and 362 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial advanced 0.91 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.60 percent, Hana Financial rose 0.44 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.47 percent, Samsung SDI and SK Telecom both fell 0.44 percent, LG Electronics spiked 3.24 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.04 percent, Naver improved 0.95 percent, LG Chem perked 0.30 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.48 percent, S-Oil dropped 0.97 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.45 percent, POSCO eased 0.15 percent, KEPCO added 0.50 percent, Hyundai Mobis jumped 1.64 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.15 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 2.55 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded to end firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 108.82 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 33,153.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 83.33 points or 0.72 percent to close at 11,590.40 and the S&P 500 rose 21.27 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,012.32.

Buying interest remained somewhat subdued as interest rate concerns continued to hang over the markets following Wednesday’s release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed minutes offered few surprised but reiterated that the central bank will continue to raise interest rates in its battle against inflation.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, while the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew by slightly less than estimated Q4 of 2022.

After trending lower in recent sessions, the price of crude oil showed a strong move back to the upside on Thursday, despite a bigger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $1.44 or 2.0 percent to $75.39 a barrel.