Soft Start Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 1.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,450-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on lingering concerns over the outlook for interest rates following the recent batch of data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology, chemical and automobile stocks were offset by support from the financial and oil companies.

For the day, the index sank 24.27 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 2,451.21. Volume was 507.5 million shares worth 8.26 trillion won. There were 475 decliners and 395 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.19 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.40 percent, Hana Financial surged 4.05 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.73 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 4.22 percent, LG Electronics slumped 0.09 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.97 percent, Naver retreated 2.27 percent, LG Chem tanked 3.91 percent, Lotte Chemical soared 3.78 percent, S-Oil added 0.36 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.19 percent, POSCO jumped 1.52 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.45 percent, KEPCO was down 0.11 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.93 percent, Hyundai Motor eased 0.17 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.13 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened in the red on Friday, although the Dow managed to break into the positive territory and finish mildly in the green.

The Dow climbed 129.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,826.69, while the NASDAQ slumped 68.53 points or 0.58 percent to close at 11,787.27 and the S&P 500 fell 11.32 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,079.09. For the week, the Dow eased 0.1 percent, the NASDAQ rose 0.6 percent and the S&P dipped 0.3 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the week's batch of economic data, which has led to worries the Federal Reserve could raise rates higher than currently anticipated.

Recent comments from Fed officials have added to the concerns, with some suggesting the central bank could raise rates by another 50 basis points next month.

The recovery attempt came as treasury yields showed a notable turnaround, with the benchmark ten-year yield pulling back off its highest levels in well over a month.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Friday, extending its recent losing streak to four days as traders worried about the impact of rate hikes on energy demand. West Texas Intermediate tumbled $2.15 or 2.7 percent to $76.34 per barrel. For the week, oil slumped 4.2 percent.