KOSPI May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 35 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,890-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests profit taking, particularly among the technology sectors. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index climbed 23.36 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 2,891.35. Volume was 453 million shares worth 14.4 trillion won. There were 438 gainers and 414 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.96 percent, while KB Financial and SK Telecom both rallied 2.15 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.49 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.23 percent, Samsung SDI surged 4.42 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.63 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.84 percent, Naver dropped 0.79 percent, LG Chem soared 2.95 percent, Lotte Chemical strengthened 1.32 percent, S-Oil added 0.60 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.11 percent, POSCO skyrocketed 6.24 percent, KEPCO increased 0.81 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 0.86 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.46 percent and Kia Motors rose 0.25 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is largely negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday; the Dow inched barely into the green, while the S&P and NASDAQ retreated from record highs.

The Dow rose 32.39 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 39,753.75, while the NASDAQ plummeted 364.04 points or 1.95 percent to close at 18,283.41 and the S&P 500 sank 49.37 points or 0.88 percent to end at 5,584.54.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to early strength on Wall Street, although it quickly waned as traders seem to have already priced in a rate cut in September.

The subsequent sell-off came as traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, with some of the biggest tech winners of the year like AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) leading the pullback.

Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve is still seen as likely to lower rates in September after a report from the Labor Department showing showed prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in June.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, lifted by hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve after the encouraging inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.52 at $82.62 a barrel.