Rebound Anticipated For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 35 points or 1.4 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,525-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, chemical companies and industrials, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index eased 3.94 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 2,523.55. Volume was 436.58 million shares worth 9.88 trillion won. There were 44 decliners and 434 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.69 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 1.99 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.38 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.10 percent, LG Electronics stumbled 1.65 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.14 percent, Naver climbed 1.21 percent, LG Chem eased 0.20 percent, Lotte Chemical shed 0.69 percent, SK Innovation advanced 0.94 percent, POSCO Holdings sank 0.76 percent, SK Telecom improved 0.72 percent, KEPCO spiked 2.47 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 3.42 percent, Kia Motors slumped 1.84 percent and Samsung SDI and Hyundai Mobis were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly upbeat as the major averages opened solidly higher on Friday and stayed that way throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 334.73 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 43,487.83, while the NASDAQ rallied 291.90 points or 1.51 percent to close at 19.630.20 and the S&P 500 advanced 59.30 points or 1.00 percent to end at 5,996.66.

For the week, the Dow soared 3.7 percent, the S&P jumped 2.9 percent and the NASDAQ climbed 2.5 percent.

Stocks benefitted from the recent decrease by treasury yields even as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note recovered from an early slump to end the day roughly flat. The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Adding to the interest rate optimism, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC the central bank could lower interest rates multiple times this year if inflation eases as he is expecting.

Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Friday, extending the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for February delivery was down $0.80 or 1 percent to $77.88 a barrel on Friday; for the week, crude rose about 1 percent.