KOSPI May Test Resistance At 2,700 Points On Friday

The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the six-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 120 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,670-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit, although profit taking may take hold later in the day.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index soared 75.25 points or 2.90 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,671.57 after moving as low as 2,630.30. Volume was 317.46 million shares worth 11.4 trillion won. There were 747 gainers and 140 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 6.54 percent, while KB Financial spiked 3.97 percent, Hana Financial soared 5.55 percent, Samsung Electronics was up 4.02 percent, Samsung SDI increased 1.57 percent, LG Electronics gained 2,18 percent, SK Hynix skyrocketed 9.44 percent, Naver climbed 2.83 percent, LG Chem advanced 2.73 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 3.39 percent, S-Oil fell 0.32 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.58 percent, POSCO strengthened 2.13 percent, SK Telecom improved 1.58 percent, KEPCO accelerated 2.57 percent, Hyundai Mobis gathered 1.79 percent, Hyundai Motor jumped 2.98 percent and Kia Motors added 2.04 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and maintained a positive bias throughout the session.

The Dow rallied 260.36 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 42,175.11, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.09 points or 0.60 percent to end at 18,190.29 and the S&P 500 added 23.11 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,745.37.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and providing strong fiscal revenue guidance.

Stocks also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week. The Commerce Department also reported that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in August.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.