Additional Support Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the five-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 50 points or 2 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,440-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks, in particular. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and chemical companies.

For the day, the index jumped 42.98 points or 1.79 percent to finish at 2,441.92 after trading between 2,402.58 and 2,454.67, Volume was 403.4 million shares worth 8.16 trillion won. There were 686 gainers and 206 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial advanced 0.94 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.48 percent, Hana Financial rose 0.35 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.87 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 3.13 percent, LG Electronics strengthened 1.31 percent, SK Hynix surged 6.25 percent, Naver accelerated 3.46 percent, LG Chem soared 4.54 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 3.63 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 7.21 percent, POSCO Holdings improved 3.60 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.07 percent, KEPCO gained 2.25 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.00 percent, Hyundai Motor increased 0.71 percent and Kia Motors sank 0.89 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 339.83 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 42,732.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 340.88 points or 1.77 percent to close at 19,621.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.92 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,942.47.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. Some traders also remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday amid optimism for the outlook for demand on recent data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $0.83 or 1.13 percent at $73.96 a barrel.