South Korea Shares May Bounce Higher Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 65 points or 2.5 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,680-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology and industrial companies.

For the day, the index shed 8.41 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 2,683.65 after trading between 2,678.84 and 2,692.47. Volume was 342.7 million shares worth 8.9 trillion won. There were 513 decliners and 357 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.82 percent, while KB Financial plunged 4.37 percent, Hana Financial surrendered 2.90 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.65 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.19 percent, LG Electronics slumped 1.51 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.34 percent, Naver spiked 2.39 percent, LG Chem added 0.62 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.74 percent, S-Oil plummeted 3.58 percent, SK Innovation stumbled 1.89 percent, POSCO retreated 1.48 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.58 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.95 percent, Hyundai Mobis skidded 1.09 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.80 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 322.37 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 38,225.66, while the NASDAQ rallied 235.48 points or 1.51 percent to close at 15,840.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 45.81 points or 0.91 percent to end at 5,064.20.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders breathed a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Traders had expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting alleviated those worries.

Earlier in the day, stocks saw volatility as traders reacted to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing a surge by labor costs in the first quarter of 2024. A separate Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in unchanged last week, while a Commerce Department report showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March.

Oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled slightly lower on Thursday amid easing concerns over supply disruptions and worries about the outlook for economic growth and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.05 at $78.95 a barrel.