Mild Upside Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 90 points or 3.4 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,635-point plateau and it may see additional support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index perked 1.08 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 2,636.52 after trading between 2,635.77 and 2,664.48. Volume was 594.78 million shares worth 15.45 trillion won. There were 533 gainers and 332 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.50 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.89 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.31 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 1.19 percent, LG Electronics stumbled 1.41 percent, SK Hynix plunged 3.32 percent, Naver dipped 0.12 percent, LG Chem rose 0.29 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 2.08 percent, S-Oil climbed 1.19 percent, SK Innovation tanked 2.15 percent, POSCO eased 0.14 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.35 percent, KEPCO jumped 1.99 percent, Hyundai Mobis shed 0.23 percent, Hyundai Motor declined 1.56 percent and Kia Motors and Samsung Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, slumped midday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow surged 574.82 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 38,686.32, while the NASDAQ dipped 2.08 points or 0.01 percent to close at 16,735.02 and the S&P 500 gained 42.03 points or 0.80 percent to end at 5,277.51.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent and the Dow and the NASDAQ slumped by 1.0 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively - although the major averages all posted strong gains for the month of May.

The mostly higher close on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Commerce Department data showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in April, while core consumer prices edged up slightly less than expected.

The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, generated optimism that investors may see a rate cut in the coming months.

Oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns about the outlook for demand - although optimism over the extension of OPEC production cuts limited the downside. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July slipped $0.92 at $76.99 a barrel.