South Korea Shares May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 70 points or 2.9 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,435-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild downside on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index tumbled 45.51 points or 1.84 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,434.33 after peaking at 2,471.50. Volume was 462.1 million shares worth 7.2 trillion won. There were 604 decliners and 262 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.65 percent, while KB Financial tanked 2.06 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.98 percent, Samsung Electronics crashed 3.51 percent, LG Electronics added 0.42 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 3.31 percent, Naver skidded 1.07 percent, LG Chem slumped 1.52 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.82 percent, S-Oil declined 1.71 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.97 percent, POSCO tumbled 1.99 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.40 percent, KEPCO plunged 3.63 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 1.46 percent, Kia Motors surrendered 3.06 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday but improved all session, finally ending mixed but little changed.

The Dow rose 34.87 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 34,429.88, while the NASDAQ slipped 20.95 points or 0.18 percent to close at 11,461.50 and the S&P 500 fell 4.87 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,071.70.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, which showed stronger than expected job growth in November.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data has added to lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is likely to slow the pace of interest rate hikes as early as next month, but continued labor market tightness may still lead the central bank to raise rates higher than currently anticipated.

Crude oil futures slumped on Friday ahead of OPEC's meeting over the weekend and the European Unio's cap of Russian crude. West Texas Intermediate shed 1.24 per 1,5 percent to $79.98 per barrel.