Tech Shares Likely To Boost South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 25 points or 1 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,560-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Friday.

The global forecast is positive after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index rose 1.12 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 2,564.63. Volume was 447 million shares worth 10.6 trillion won. There were 512 decliners and 352 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.79 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.11 percent, Hana Financial skidded 1.13 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.35 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 3.52 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.22 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.82 percent, Naver spiked 1.93 percent, LG Chem lost 0.49 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.49 percent, SK Innovation plunged 4.51 percent, POSCO rallied 1.71 percent, SK Telecom collected 0.35 percent, KEPCO sank 0.87 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.24 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.48 percent and Kia Motors dropped 1.05 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and ended mostly to the upside, with the NASDAQ and S&P both hitting fresh record closing highs..

The Dow eased 0.59 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 43,729.34, while the NASDAQ surged 285.99 points or 1.51 percent to close at 19,269.46 and the S&P 500 advanced 44.06 points or 0.74 percent to end at 5,973.10.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the impact of former President Donald Trump's return to the White House, which is expected to be positive for corporations.

Stocks saw continued strength as the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter point.

Oil futures settled notably higher on Thursday as traders weighed the potential impact of Donald Trump's presidency on the geopolitical scene, against the interest rate cut announcement by the Federal Reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $0.67 or 0.93 percent at $72.36 a barrel.