South Korea Bourse May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 70 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,640-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on lingering concerns over tariffs and the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets both were slightly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher again on Thursday following gains from the financials and technology stocks and mixed performances from the chemicals and industrials.

For the day, the index added 8.48 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 2,637.10. Volume was 445.75 million shares worth 11.73 trillion won. There were 544 decliners and 331 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.63 percent, while KB Financial strengthened 1.35 percent, Hana Financial rose 0.32 percent, Samsung Electronics spiked 2.92 percent, Samsung SDI soared 5.52 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.10 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.19 percent, LG Chem skyrocketed 6.20 percent, Lotte Chemical and Kia Motors both slumped 1.13 percent, SK Innovation added 0.48 percent, POSCO Holdings surged 6.24 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.71 percent, KEPCO gained 0.69 percent, Hyundai Mobis perked 0.19 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.74 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Thursday, slipping slightly under water by the close.

The Dow shed 11.31 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 41,953.32m while the NASDAQ lost 59.16 points or 0.33 percent to close at 17,691.16 and the S&P 500 fell 12.40 points or 0.22 percent to end at 5,662.89.

The modestly lower close on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged, but forecasts suggest officials still expect to resume cutting rates later this year.

However, the Fed officials also lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday after the U.S. slapped fresh sanctions on Iran. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.10 or about 1.6 percent at $68.26 a barrel on the expiration day.