Continued Support Called For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 65 points or 2.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,720-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, weakness from the automobile companies and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 21.25 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 2,731.90 after trading between 2,715.75 and 2,738.40. Volume was 504.7 million shares worth 12.8 trillion won. There were 594 gainers and 288 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 6.42 percent, KB Financial soared 4.64 percent, Hana Financial spiked 4.27 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.62 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.31 percent, LG Electronics slumped 2.81 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.95 percent, Naver stumbled 1.80 percent, LG Chem tumbled 1.92 percent, Lotte Chemical improved 1.00 percent, S-Oil increased 0.30 percent, SK Innovation dropped 0.85 percent, POSCO rose 0.28 percent, Samsung Heavy skyrocketed 8.40 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.18 percent, KEPCO climbed 0.98 percent, Hyundai Motor surrendered 3.18 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 2.52 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

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

The Dow surged 654.27 points or 1.64 percent to finish at 40,589.34, while the NASDAQ rallied 176.16 points or 1.03 percent and the S&P 500 gained 59.88 points or 1.11 percent.

For the week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 2.1 percent and the S&P fell 0.8 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as the release of closely watched inflation data by the Commerce Department added to confidence about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.

The University of Michigan also released revised data showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated less than previously estimated in July.

Oil prices fell on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for demand due to the economic slowdown in China, while hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.12 or 1.4 percent at $77.16 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 1.9 percent in the week.