Higher Open Predicted For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Memorial Day, the South Korea stock market had finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 115 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,810-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to upbeat employment data out of the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the technology and industrial sectors, while the financials were down on profit taking.

For the day, the index spiked 41.21 points or 1.49 percent to finish at 2,812.05 after trading between 2,787.76 and 2,831.11. Volume was 548.09 million shares worth 12.87 trillion won. There were 570 gainers and 313 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial slumped 1.17 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.48 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.34 percent, Samsung Electronics spiked 2.25 percent, Samsung SDI climbed 1.10 percent, LG Electronics strengthened 1.54 percent, SK Hynix rallied 3.22 percent, Naver jumped 3.07 percent, LG Chem improved 1.41 percent, Lotte Chemical advanced 1.50 percent, SK Innovation increased 1.32 percent, POSCO Holdings soared 4.68 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.19 percent, KEPCO skidded 1.01 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 1.60 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.94 percent and Kia Motors surged 3.91 percent.

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

The Dow surged 443.13 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 42,762.87, while the NASDAQ rallied 231.50 points or 1.20 percent to close at 19,529.95 and the S&P 500 gained 61.06 points or 1.03 percent to end at 6,000.36.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. job growth in May.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs.

The modestly bigger than expected increase in employment helped offset concerns about the strength of the economy following some recent downbeat data.

Crude oil prices move higher on Friday in response to the better-than-expected jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $1.21 to $64.58 per barrel; it was up 6 percent for the week.