KOSPI May Add To Its Winnings On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, surging almost 120 points or 5 percent in that span. The KOSPI market now rests just above the 2,615-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following strong U.S. employment data, even though it dims the possibility of an interest rate hike next month. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, industrials and technology companies.

For the day, the index rallied 72.85 points or 2.87 percent to finish at 2,615.31 after trading between 2,559.39 and 2,615.34. Volume was 580 million shares worth 14.1 trillion won. There were 710 gainers and 180 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial accelerated 6.59 percent, while KB Financial spiked 8.16 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 7.50 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 2.17 percent, Samsung SDI gained 4.11 percent, LG Electronics increased 2.31 percent, SK Hynix advanced 1.66 percent, Naver soared 9.38 percent, LG Chem rallied 7.21 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 5.42 percent, S-Oil improved 1.47 percent, SK Innovation added 2.64 percent, POSCO climbed 2.75 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.98 percent, KEPCO fell 0.25 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 5.69 percent, Hyundai Motor skyrocketed 9.13 percent and Kia Motors surged 12.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but consistently trended upward and finished well into the green, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 134.62 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 38,654.42, while the NASDAQ surged 267.35 points or 1.74 percent to end at 15,628.95 and the S&P 500 jumped 52.42 points or 1.07 percent to close at 4,958.61. For the week, the NASDAQ shot up 1.1 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both jumped 1.4 percent.

The extended rally on Wall Street came amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and online retail giant Amazon (AMZN).

Traders were also reacting to the closely watched report from the Labor Department showing much stronger than expected job growth in January.

The data further reduces the chances of an interest rate cut in March, but a strong jobs market is viewed as a good thing for the stock market and the economy.

Oil prices fell sharply on Friday as hopes of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve faded after data showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in January. The dollar's sharp uptick after the jobs data also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $1.54 or about 2.1 percent at $72.28 a barrel. The contract shed more than 7 percent in the week.