South Korea Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, accelerating nearly 100 points or 3.9 percent in that span. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,750-point plateau and it may continue its winning ways again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, particularly among the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index soared 64.72 points or 2.41 percent to finish at 2,754.86 after trading between 2,724.25 and 2,755.45. Volume was 811.8 million shares worth 13.8 trillion won. There were 655 gainers and 217 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial soared 4.30 percent, while KB Financial spiked 3.12 percent, Hana Financial collected 3.06 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.12 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.55 percent, LG Electronics jumped 3.33 percent, SK Hynix skyrocketed 8.63 percent, Naver added 0.71 percent, LG Chem perked 0.33 percent, Lotte Chemical strengthened 1.54 percent, S-Oil was up 0.26 percent, SK Innovation eased 0.12 percent, POSCO gathered 0.35 percent, SK Telecom increased 0.38 percent, KEPCO gained 2.47 percent, Hyundai Mobis surged 5.14 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 4.56 percent and Kia Motors was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session, ending at fresh record closing highs.

The Dow rallied 269.24 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 39,781.37, while the NASDAQ added 32.43 points or 0.20 percent to close at 16,401.84 and the S&P 500 gained 16.91 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,241.53.

The early strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from positive reaction to Wednesday's monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve.

While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, the central bank also maintained its forecast for three interest rate cuts this year.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight drop by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales unexpectedly soared in February.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and weak gasoline demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May dipped $0.20 at $81.07 a barrel.