South Korea Shares May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 75 points or 3.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,535-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests support ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the chemicals, telecoms and technology stocks, while the financials and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 27.48 points or 1.10 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,536.75 after moving as low as 2,515.34. Volume was 470.03 million shares worth 11.65 trillion won. There were 596 gainers and 280 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial slumped 1.38 percent, while KB Financial plummeted 6.70 percent, Hana Financial lost 0.65 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.08 percent, Samsung SDI dipped 0.24 percent, LG Electronics advanced 0.88 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.36 percent, Naver strengthened 1.31 percent, LG Chem rose 0.23 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.65 percent, SK Innovation fell 0.39 percent, POSCO Holdings perked 0.21 percent, SK Telecom added 0.54 percent, KEPCO improved 0.71 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.49 percent, Kia Motors improved 0.71 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher, although the Dow quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow stumbled 125.65 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,747.63, while the NASDAQ advanced 99.66 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19.971.99 and the S&P 500 added 22.09 points or 0.36 percent to end at 6,083.57.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Traders will be watching the numbers, which could affect the Federal Reserve's outlook for interest rates.

A day ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil saw further downside on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil production in an effort to lower prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery slid $0.42 or 0.6 percent to a one-month low of $70.61 a barrel .