KOSPI May Crack Resistance At 2,700 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 25 points or 1 percent. The KOSPI now rests just shy of the 2,665-point plateau and it's poised to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology and energy stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 10.96 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 2,664.27. Volume was 445.3 million shares worth 10.1 trillion won. There were 509 decliners and 348 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.18 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.31 percent, Hana Financial spiked 1.79 percent, Samsung Electronics perked 0.14 percent, Samsung SDI declined 1.25 percent, LG Electronics gathered 0.20 percent, SK Hynix surged 5.03 percent, Naver slid 0.25 percent, Hanwha Solutions plummeted 10.67 percent, LG Chem plunged 3.80 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.44 percent, SK Innovation lost 0.48 percent, POSCO shed 0.34 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.75 percent, KEPCO added 0.66 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.67 percent, Hyundai Motor jumped 1.67 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 2.14 percent and S-Oil was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher and continued to climb as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 456.87 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 39,069.11, while the NASDAQ soared 460.72 points or 2.96 percent to end at 16,041.62 and the S&P 500 rallied 105.23 points or 2.11 percent to close at 5,087.03.

The rally on Wall Street largely reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the chipmaker spiking by 16.4 percent to a record closing high.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted a big rebound in existing home sales in January.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as rising tensions in the Middle East raised the possibility of a near-term supply disruption. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April added $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $78.61 a barrel.