Additional Support Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 65 points or 2.7 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,500-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast is positive, supported by increasing oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion on Monday.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology, financial and automobile sectors.

For the day, the index advanced 20.61 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 2,501.24 after trading between 2,492.21 and 2,511.23. Volume was 534.9 million shares worth 7.8 trillion won. There were 514 gainers and 356 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.36 percent, while KB Financial climbed 1.13 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.46 percent, Samsung Electronics sank 0.71 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 1.70 percent, LG Electronics improved 0.76 percent, SK Hynix surged 4.68 percent, Naver perked 0.16 percent, LG Chem rallied 1.19 percent, Lotte Chemical dipped 0.15 percent, SK Innovation skidded 1.09 percent, POSCO eased 0.16 percent, SK Telecom spiked 1.60 percent, KEPCO added 0.42 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 0.70 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.20 percent. and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and mostly stayed that way, ending in the green.

The Dow surged 426.16 points or 0.97 percent to finish at a record 44,296.51, while the NASDAQ added 31.23 points or 0.16 percent to close at 19.003.65 and the S&P 500 gained 20.63 points or 0.35 percent to end at 5,969.34.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.0 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both shot up by 1.7 percent.

The advance by the markets came despite a pullback by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), as the AI darling tumbled by 3.2 percent despite having reporting better than expected third quarter earnings and revenues.

In U.S. economic news, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved less than expected in November - although the index is still at its highest level since April.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday amid rising concerns about Russia/Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.14 or 1.6 percent at $71.24 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 6.5 percent in the week.