Tech Shares May Boost South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 125 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,655-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on upbeat inflation data and support from the oil and technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index climbed 27.71 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 2,656.33 after trading between 2,641.35 and 2,662.10. Volume was 443 million shares worth 9.93 trillion won. There were 460 gainers and 405 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 7.47 percent, while KB Financial skyrocketed 9.67 percent, Hana Financial spiked 6.01 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.52 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.21 percent, LG Electronics collected 0.22 percent, SK Hynix accelerated 4.22 percent, Naver lost 0.66 percent, LG Chem was up 0.13 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.40 percent, S-Oil plunged 2.63 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.74 percent, POSCO perked 0.51 percent, SK Telecom gained 0.59 percent, KEPCO improved 0.72 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.43 percent, Hyundai Motor dipped 0.20 percent and Kia Motors rallied 1.37 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 153.86 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 38,239.66, while the NASDAQ surged 316.10 points or 2.02 percent to end at 15,927.90 and the S&P 500 rallied 51.54 points or 1.02 percent to close at 5.099.96.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.2 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 2.7 percent and the Dow added 0.7 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came amid a positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news from big-name tech companies such as Alphabet (GOOGL), software giant Microsoft (MSFT) and Snap (SNAP).

Traders also reacted positively to closely watched readings on inflation released by the Commerce Department showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in March.

Treasury yields moved lower following the release of the report, which may have helped mitigate any negative response to the data.

Oil prices edged higher on Friday on optimism about the outlook for oil demand and concerns about supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.28 or 0.34 percent at $83.85 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 0.85 percent in the week.