Higher Open Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 50 points or 2.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,270-point plateau although it's looking at renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by solid earnings news among technology shares. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to open in the green.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology stocks and telecoms were offset by support from the financials and automobile producers.

For the day, the index slumped 20.38 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 2,268.40 after trading between 2,266.44 and 2,292.65. Volume was 420.3 million shares worth 8.15 trillion won. There were 504 decliners and 349 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.81 percent, while KB Financial strengthened 1.70 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.61 percent, Samsung Electronics plunged 3.70 percent, LG Electronics slid 0.37 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 7.33 percent, Naver lost 0.62 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.67 percent, Lotte Chemical improved 1.36 percent, S-Oil soared 3.16 percent, SK Innovation dropped 0.88 percent, POSCO sank 0.80 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.40 percent, KEPCO fell 0.29 percent, Hyundai Mobis skyrocketed 7.35 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.23 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.30 percent and Samsung SDI and Kakao Corp were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 828.50 points or 2.59 percent to finish at 32,861.80, while the NASDAQ soared 309.75 points or 2.87 percent to end at 11,102.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 93.76 points or 2.46 percent to close at 3,901.06.

For the week, the Dow spiked 5.7 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 4.0 percent and the NASDAQ rallied 2.2 percent.

Traders reacted positively to strong earnings news from the likes of semiconductor giant Intel (INTC), Apple (AAPL) and energy giant Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Buying interest may also have been generated by a Commerce Department report showing core consumer price growth accelerated less than expected in September - which may encourage the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes.

Oil prices drifted lower on Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced due to increased Covid-19 restrictions in parts of China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December slumped $1.18 or 1.3 percent at $87.90 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained more than 3 percent in the week.

Closer to home, South Korea will release September results for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is expected to fall 0.3 percent on month and increase 0.9 percent on year after slipping 1.8 percent on month and adding 1.0 percent on year in August. Retail sales were down 1.8 percent on month and up 2.3 percent on year in August.