KOSPI Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than 35 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,215-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on falling treasury yields and optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, chemical companies and automobile producers, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 4.97 points or 0.22 percent to close at 2,213.12 after trading between 2,204.64 and 2,224.04. Volume was 626 million shares worth 6 trillion won. There were 712 decliners and 173 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.55 percent, while KB Financial declined 1.08 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.89 percent, Samsung Electronics gained 0.72 percent, Samsung SDI skyrocketed 6.45 percent, LG Electronics slid 0.49 percent, SK Hynix rose 0.33 percent, Naver retreated 1.48 percent, LG Chem fell 0.35 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 4.95 percent, S-Oil stumbled 1.49 percent, SK Innovation added 0.65 percent, POSCO skidded 1.19 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.10 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 0.97 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.89 percent, Kia Motors weakened 0.73 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened barely in the red on Friday but quickly moved higher and accelerated as the day progressed.

The Dow surged 748.96 points or 2.47 percent to finish at 31,082.56, while the NASDAQ soared 244.92 points or 2.31 percent to end at 10,859.72 and the S&P 500 jumped 86.97 points or 2.37 percent to close at 3,752.75.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 5.2 percent, the Dow spiked 4.9 percent and the S&P accelerated 4.7 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came as treasury yields showed a notable downturn after extending a recent surge in early trading. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note finished the day modestly lower after spiking to a fifteen-year intraday high earlier in the session.

The pullback by yields came after a report from the Wall Street Journal suggested Fed officials are likely to debate whether and how to signal plans for a smaller rate hike in December following a widely expected 75 basis point increase in early November.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday amid hopes demand for oil in China will see an increase soon. A likely ban on Russian oil by the European Union and a weak dollar also fueled oil's uptick. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $85.05 a barrel.