South Korea Stock Market May Halt Slide On Monday

The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,410-point plateau although it may find support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with bargain hunting offset by ongoing concerns over the outlook for the global economy. The European markets were sharply higher and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished slightly lost on Friday following losses from the technology and chemical companies, while the automobile producers offered support and the financials and oil companies were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 6.20 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 2,409.41 after trading between 2,402.67 and 2,432.37. Volume was 382.35 million shares worth 7.02 trillion won. There were 528 decliners and 322 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.86 percent, while KB Financial declined 1.26 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.53 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.54 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.17 percent, LG Electronics fell 0.41 percent, SK Hynix sank 0.76 percent, Naver slumped 0.85 percent, LG Chem tumbled 2.09 percent, Lotte Chemical skidded 0.88 percent, S-Oil lost 0.71 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.68 percent, POSCO tanked 2.77 percent, SK Telecom added 0.38 percent, KEPCO stumbled 2.46 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.51 percent and Kia Motors gained 0.75 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened higher on Friday but tumbled in afternoon trade to finish deep in the red.

The Dow plummeted 337.98 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 31,318.44, while the NASDAQ tumbled 154.26 points or 1.31 percent to close at 11,630.86 and the S&P 500 sank 42.59 points or 1.07 percent to end at 3,924.26.

The volatility on Wall Street followed the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. employment increased roughly in line with estimates in August.

Amid recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates, the jobs data was described as a goldilocks report by some economists, coming in neither too hot nor too cold.

A separate report from the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a sharp pullback in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in July.

Crude oil prices ticked higher Friday on rising prospects for a reduction in output from OPEC and allies. But prices were down for the week amid worries about outlook for energy demand due to concerns about slowing global growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September rose $0.26 or 0.3 percent at $86.87 a barrel; they were down 6.7 percent in the week.