Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 25 points or 1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,425-point plateau and it's poised to add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over inflation, demand and interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the oil and automobile stocks were offset by weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the technology and chemical companies.

For the day, the index gained 15.00 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 2,427.85Volume was 422.3 million shares worth 9.48 trillion won. There were 495 gainers and 389 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tanked 2.06 percent, while KB Financial declined 1.36 percent, Hana Financial slumped 1.54 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.33 percent, LG Electronics perked 0.18 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 1.45 percent, Naver retreated 1.20 percent, LG Chem fell 0.29 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 3.25 percent, S-Oil soared 3.22 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 6.93 percent, POSCO surged 5.87 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.22 percent, KEPCO shed 0.66 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 2.12 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.25 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 3.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily upward throughout the session, with all finishing firmly in the green.

The Dow surged 341.75 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,003.57, while the NASDAQ advanced 83.50 points or 0.73 percent to end at 11,462.98 and the S&P 500 gained 29.96 points or 0.76 percent to close at 3,981.35.

The surge by the Dow reflected a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud-based software company soaring 11.5 percent on better than expected Q4 results and upbeat guidance.

The markets also rebounded on comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, who said he strongly favors raising interest rates in only quarter-point increments.

Traders largely shrugged off a continue surge in treasury yields, which followed the release of a Labor Department report unexpectedly showing a modest decline in initial jobless claims last week.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session as optimism about higher demand from China outweighed concerns about inflation and interest rate hikes. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April settled at $78.16 a barrel, gaining $0.47 or 0.6 percent.