South Korea Shares May Bounce Higher Again On Friday

The South Korea stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 65 points or 2.7 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,480-point plateau although it may see renewed strength on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and support from crude oil. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to continue that trend.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the automobile producers, gains from the chemicals and mixed performances from the financial and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 1.66 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 2,480.63 after trading between 2,474.62 and 2,496.97. Volume was 440.4 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won. There were 477 decliners and 392 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial fell 0.36 percent, while KB Financial strengthened 1.78 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.82 percent, Samsung Electronics and Lotte Chemical both jumped 1.99 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 1.93 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.43 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.06 percent, Naver tumbled 1.76 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.03 percent, SK Innovation surged 5.04 percent, POSCO soared 3.05 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.71 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.21 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.39 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.37 percent and Kia Motors slumped 0.51 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened slightly lower on Thursday but gradually moved higher and finished in the green.

The Dow rallied 461.88 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 43,870.35, while the NASDAQ rose 6.28 points or 0.03 percent to close at 18,972.42 and the S&P 500 advanced 31.60 points or 0.53 percent to end at 5,948.71.

The sharp increase by the Dow came amid strong gains by IBM Corp. (IBM), Sherwin-Williams (SHW) and Salesforce (CRM).

The NASDAQ showed a lack of direction as traders tracked the performance of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected third quarter earnings and revenues – but some traders expressed concerns about slowing revenue growth.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over six months last week. Also, the Conference Board’ leading economic index fell more than expected in October

Oil prices climbed higher Thursday as escalating geopolitical tensions due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine outweighed recent data showing robust supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $1.35 or 1.96 percent at $70.10 a barrel.