KOSPI May Challenge Resistance At 2,500 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting almost 65 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,475-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on good inflation news and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financials, industrials, chemicals and technology companies.

For the day, the index climbed 23.70 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 2,476.86. Volume was 705.36 million shares worth 12.51 trillion won. There were 480 gainers and 407 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.71 percent, while KB Financial improved 0.95 percent, Hana Financial advanced 0.99 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.27 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 1.94 percent, LG Electronics soared 1.05 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.23 percent, Naver added 0.50 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.30 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 1.17 percent, S-Oil added 0.50 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 4.22 percent, POSCO skyrocketed 8.39 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.05 percent, KEPCO plunged 4.66 percent, Hyundai Mobis increased 1.41 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.82 percent and Kia Motors spiked 2.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and picked up steam as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow soared 415.15 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 33,274.15, while the NASDAQ jumped 208.41 points or 1.73 percent to end at 12,221.91 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.48 points or 1.44 percent to close at 4,109.31.

For the week, the S&P soared 3.5 percent, the NASDAQ accelerated 3.4 percent and the Dow climbed 3.2 percent.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Commerce Department report showing an unexpected slowdown in the annual rate of core consumer price growth.

With this inflation reading said to be preferred by the Fed, the data led to some optimism the central bank will hold off on raising interest rates at its next meeting in early May.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday on falling supplies and optimism about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.30 or 1.8 percent at $75.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 9.2 percent in the week but dropped 1.8 percent in March and 6 percent in Q1.