South Korea Stock Market May Find Traction On Friday

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,175-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to solid earnings news and rising crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology and automobile stocks were mitigated by support from the chemical companies and mixed performances from the financials and oil stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 7.40 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 3,174.07 after trading between 3,161.06 and 3,200.41. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 18.8 trillion won. There were 472 decliners and 381 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.13 percent, while KB Financial tanked 2.00 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.90 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.49 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.22 percent, Naver tumbled 1.87 percent, LG Chem surged 6.85 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.32 percent, S-Oil lost 0.56 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.85 percent, POSCO perked 0.13 percent, SK Telecom plunged 4.96 percent, KEPCO declined 1.44 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.81 percent, Kia Motors sank 2.58 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive after the major averages saw wild fluctuations on Thursday before finally ending firmly in the green.

The Dow jumped 239.98 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 34,060 .36, while the NASDAQ added 31.52 points or 0.22 percent to end at 14,082.55 and the S&P 500 rose 28.29 points or 0.68 percent to close at 4,211.47.

The higher close on Wall Street came following upbeat earnings news from tech giants like Qualcomm (QCOM), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB).

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to a new pandemic-era low last week. Also, the Commerce Department noted an acceleration in the pace of U.S. economic growth in the first three months of 2021.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand following a drop in U.S. petroleum product supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $1.15 or 1.8 percent at $65.01 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide March figures for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is tipped to rise 0.1 percent on month and 4.2 percent on year after gaining 4.3 percent on month and 0.9 percent on year in February. Retail sales were down 0.8 percent on month and up 8.4 percent on year in February.

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