KOSPI: Resistance Expected At 2,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 65 points or 2.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,395-point plateau and it's expected to turn lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on continued concerns over the health of financial institutions. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, technology stocks and automobile producers, while the chemicals were soft.

For the day, the index improved 17.78 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 2,395.69. Volume was 8.38 trillion won. There were 672 gainers and 224 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rose 0.29 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.83 percent, Hana Financial jumped 1.60 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.34 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.44 percent, LG Electronics added 0.34 percent, SK Hynix skyrocketed 6.33 percent, Naver added 0.46 percent, LG Chem plunged 3.84 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 2.22 percent, S-Oil perked 0.26 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.80 percent, POSCO shed 0.62 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.74 percent, KEPCO soared 3.76 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 1.40 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.49 percent and Kia Motors strengthened 1.39 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday and pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 384.62 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 31,861.98, while the NASDAQ slumped 86.79 points or 0.74 percent to close at 11,630.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 43.64 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,916.64. For the week, the NASDAQ soared 4.4 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on Thursday's rally amid lingering concerns about turmoil in the financial sector.

Traders also looked ahead to Wednesday's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates a 43.2 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged and a 56.8 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate hike.

In economic news, the Fed said U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in February. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in March.

Crude oil prices sank Friday as rising concerns about the health of the banking sector continued to fuel worries about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April dropped $1.61 or 2.4 percent at $66.74 a barrel. WTI crude futures tumbled 13 percent in the week.