Mild Upside Seen For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market ticked higher again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 1.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,565-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and industrials, while the financials were soft.

For the day, the index added 7.44 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 2,563.71. Volume was 486.1 million shares worth 9.89 trillion won. There were 549 decliners and 315 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dipped 0.28 percent, while KB Financial dropped 0.92 percent, Hana Financial eased 0.13 percent, Samsung Electronics surged 6.13 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 2.93 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.12 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.48 percent, LG Chem surrendered 2.23 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2,34 percent, S-Oil rose 0.27 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.85 percent, POSCO plummeted 3.28 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.31 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.65 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 0.90 percent, Kia Motors lost 0.62 percent and KEPCO and Naver were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly higher as the major averages opened higher but quickly faded and hugged the unchanged line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 115.81 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 34,837.71, while the NASDAQ eased 3.19 points or 0.02 percent to close at 14,031.81 and the S&P 500 rose 8.11 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,515.77. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.4 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street followed the release of a mixed employment from the Labor Department. While the closely watched report showed modestly stronger than expected job growth in August, the report also showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate.

The increase in the unemployment rate added to optimism about the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged later this month, but traders continued to express some uncertainty about future meetings.

In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported a slowdown in the pace of contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Crude oil showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending recent gains over supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery surged $1.92 or 2.3 percent to $85.55 a barrel, closing higher for the seventh straight session. The price of crude oil soared 7.2 percent for the week.