Tech Shares May Support South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had plunged more than 80 points or 3.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,300-point plateau and it's likely to hold steady in that neighborhood on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on weak earnings and slightly higher inflation. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the chemical companies, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 3.73 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 2,302.81. Volume was 505.8 million shares worth 7.8 trillion won. There were 444 gainers and 420 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.14 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.50 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.44 percent, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.90 percent, Samsung SDI skyrocketed 6.86 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 3.51 percent, SK Hynix sank 0.75 percent, Naver jumped 1.92 percent, LG Chem spiked 2.93 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.11 percent, S-Oil shed 0.44 percent, SK Innovation fell 0.32 percent, POSCO rose 0.36 percent, SK Telecom added 0.51 percent, KEPCO strengthened 1.65 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.85 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.17 percent and Kia Motors slumped 1.60 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and finished the same way.

The Dow tumbled 366.71 points or 1.12 percent to finish at 32,417.59, while the NASDAQ added 47.41 points or 0.38 percent to close at 12,643.01 and the S&P 500 sank 19.86 points or 0.48 percent to end at 4,117.37.

For the week, the Dow dropped 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent and the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent.

The rebound by the NASDAQ reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN) and semiconductor giant Intel (INTC), which beat estimates - while disappointing earnings from Chevron (CVX) weighed heavily on the Dow.

Traders were also digesting a Commerce Department report showing that consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in September, matching the increase in August. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday as tensions in the Middle East escalated with Israeli ground forces expanding operations in Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $2.33 or 2.8 percent at $85.54 a barrel. WTI crude futures posted a weekly loss of 3.6 percent.