Mild Upside Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 80 points or 3.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,470-point plateau although it may tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday following weakness from the technology, oil and industrial stocks, gains from the chemicals and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index sank 18.33 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 2,469.85 after trading between 2,463.59 and 2,481.10. Volume was 382.7 million shares worth 7.9 trillion won. There were 614 decliners and 269 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.69 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.55 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.95 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.41 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.42 percent, LG Electronics plunged 2.49 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 1.81 percent, Naver fell 0.49 percent, LG Chem and Kia Motors both increased 0.83 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 2.18 percent, S-Oil retreated 1.74 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 1.95 percent, POSCO sank 0.75 percent, SK Telecom rallied 1.57 percent, KEPCO improved 0.74 percent, Hyundai Mobis was down 0.43 percent and Hyundai Motor dipped 0.22 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened lower on Friday but broke into the green by midday and finished with mild gains.

The Dow rose 1.78 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 34,947.28, while the NASDAQ added 11.78 points or 0.08 percent to close at 14,125.48 and the S&P 500 gained 5.78 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,514.02.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.4 percent, the S&P jumped 2.2 percent and the Row rallied 1.9 percent.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the recent advance, as the latest data has shown signs of easing inflation.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in new residential construction and building permits in October.

Crude oil futures spiked on Friday, but the most active futures contract still posted its fourth straight weekly loss amid concerns about the outlook for near term energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December jumped $2.99 or 4.1 percent at $75.89 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 4 percent in the week.