South Korea Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Monday

The South Korea stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, improving more than 50 points or 2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2.490-point plateau although investors may cash in on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, with weakness expected from the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and chemical companies, while the automobile producers were down and the oil and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index collected 17.69 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 2,490.80 after trading between 2,480.05 and 2,497.58. Volume was 400.63 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won. There were 595 gainers and 241 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 1.13 percent, while KB Financial soared 4.78 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.28 percent, LG Electronics eased 0.10 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.03 percent, Naver tumbled 2.38 percent, LG Chem surged 5.42 percent, Lotte Chemical accelerated 2.82 percent, S-Oil shed 0.58 percent, SK Innovation added 0.54 percent, POSCO spiked 2.79 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.38 percent, Hyundai Motor skidded 1.02 percent, Hyundai Mobis tumbled 1,97 percent, Kia Motors dropped 0.98 percent and Samsung Electronics and KEPCO were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower as the major averages opened deep in the red on Friday and recovered somewhat, although only the Dow peeked up into positive territory.

The Dow added 76.67 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,803.47, while the NASDAQ sank 63.04 points or 0.50 percent to end at 12,657.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.75 points or 0.16 percent to close at 4,145.19.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.1 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders reacted to the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report – which showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in July, leading to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

While the data paints a positive picture of the labor market, the report may also give the Federal Reserve confidence they can continue aggressively raising interest rates without causing a recession.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, lifted by the strong jobs report, but still posted a weekly loss amid concerns about demand due to economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.47 or 0.5 percent at $89.01 a barrel.