South Korea Shares Likely To Open Under Pressure Again On Monday

The South Korea stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 100 points or 1.9 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,715-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is continued volatility with a downward bias thanks to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday following profit taking among the financials, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index stumbled 33.65 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 2,713.43 after trading between 2,702.34 and 2,736.58. Volume was 756 million shares worth 12.2 trillion won. There were 488 decliners and 361 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.91 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.54 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.06 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.92 percent, LG Electronics surrendered 3,14 percent, SK Hynix plunged 3.49 percent, Naver tanked 2.46 percent, LG Chem plummeted 4.12 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 2.42 percent, S-Oil added 0.45 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.24 percent, POSCO perked 0.34 percent, SK Telecom spiked 2.73 percent, KEPCO shed 0.41 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 2.82 percent and Kia Motors sank 0.95 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained solidly in the red throughout the session.

The Dow dropped 179.90 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 33,614.80, while the NASDAQ tumbled 224.46 points or 1.66 percent to close at 13,313.44 and the S&P sank 34.62 points or 0.79 percent to end at 4,328.87. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.8 percent and the Dow and S&P both fell 1.3 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street came as concerns about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to weigh on the markets, with Russia ratcheting up its attacks and taking control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Worries about Ukraine overshadowed the Labor Department report that showed U.S. employment once again jumped by much more than expected in February.

Crude oil prices moved up sharply on Friday as worries about supply disruptions grew amid an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up by $8.01 or about 7.4 percent at $115.68 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2008. WTI crude futures skyrocketed 26.3 percent for the week, the steepest climb in percentage terms since the week ending April 3, 2020.