South Korea Stock Market Expected To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in eight straight sessions, accelerating almost 170 points or 7.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,385-point plateau and it's got another solid lead for Monday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian market is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for 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 Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index advanced 20.99 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 2,386.09 after trading between 2,375.78 and 2,397.01. Volume was 851 million shares worth 6.9 trillion won. There were 524 gainers and 325 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.50 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.59 percent, Hana Financial spiked 2.91 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.50 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.53 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.27 percent, Naver gained 0.52 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.10 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 2.98 percent, S-Oil soared 4.28 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.91 percent, POSCO surged 4.81 percent, KEPCO jumped 2.02 percent, Hyundai Mobis gathered 1.41 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.50 percent, Kia Motors improved 2.19 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, climbing into the green for good by the afternoon.

The Dow gained 112.61 points of 0.33 percent to finish at 34,302.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 78.06 points or 0.71 percent to end at 11,079.16 and the S&P 500 rose 15.92 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,999.09.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 4.8 percent, the S&P gained 2.7 percent and the Dow rose 2.0 percent.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on some the recent strength in the markets amid a negative reaction to earnings news from several big-name financial companies.

The recovery came as upbeat consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data helped offset the early negative sentiment.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday on optimism for less aggressive rate hikes in the United States after inflation slowed in December. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended higher by $1.47 or 1.9 percent at $79.86 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide December numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In November, imports were down 2.4 percent on year and exports dropped 9.5 percent for a trade deficit of $4.69 billion.