South Korea Shares May Inch Higher On Friday

The South Korea stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, slumping almost 130 points or 5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,540-point plateau and it’s overdue for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat to lower following U.S. inflation data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 1.71 points or 0.07 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,540.27 after peaking at 2,557.30. Volume was 740 million shares worth 10.7 trillion won. There were 439 decliners and 438 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 1.22 percent, while KB Financial lost 0.58 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.24 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.54 percent, LG Electronics slumped 2.26 percent, SK Hynix jumped 1.87 percent, Naver and POSCO both perked 0.22 percent, LG Chem skidded 1.08 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 0.36 percent, S-Oil tumbled 1.49 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 1.71 percent, SK Telecom added 0.31 percent, KEPCO retreated 1.32 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.46 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.16 percent. Kia Motors dropped 0.88 percent and Samsung SDI was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly plummeted deep into the red before rallying to finish mixed and flat.

The Dow rose 15.29 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 37,711.02, while the NASDAQ perked 0.54 points or 0.00 percent to close at 14,970.18 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.21 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,780.24.

The early downturn on Wall Street came as traders digested the Labor Department’s highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in December, which showed prices rose slightly more than expected.

A number of economists have said the data makes the Federal Reserve less likely to cut interest rates in March, with many predicting the central bank will hold off until its May meeting.

The late-day recovery attempt on Wall Street also came as treasury yields showed a notable move to the downside after showing a lack of direction for much of the day.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday as prices rebounded on likely disruptions in trade and supplies after Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude marked for delivery to Turkey. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.65 at $72.02 a barrel.