South Korea Shares May Open In The Red On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 45 points or 1.9 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,470-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid lingering uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financials, chemicals and automobile companies.

For the day, the index improved 22.98 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 2,470.41. Volume was 589.6 million shares worth 6.5 trillion won. There were 638 gainers and 225 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.36 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.38 percent, Samsung Electronics improved 0.73 percent. Samsung SDI spiked 2.20 percent, SK Hynix added 0.57 percent, Naver shed 0.43 percent, LG Chem gained 0.45 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 1.50 percent, SK Innovation lost 0.53 percent, POSCO perked 0.20 percent, SK Telecom was up 0.17 percent, KEPCO sank 0.41 percent, Hyundai Mobis slid 0.42 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.35 percent and Hyundai Motor, Hana Financial and LG Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished largely the same way, with a downside bias.

The Doe slumped 527.16 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 39,142.23, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.71 points or 0.13 percent to close at 16,286.45 and the S&P 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,282.70.

The markets are closed for Good Friday; for the holiday-shortened week, the S&P retreated 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent and the Dow declined 2.7 percent.

The steep drop by the Dow reflected a nosedive by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH), which plummeted 22.4 percent after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings and cut its full-year profit forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. pulled back much more than expected in March.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about sanctions on Iranian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery spiked $2.21 or 3.5 percent to $64.68 a barrel.