KOSPI May Hand Back Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had eased almost 10 points or 0.4 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,535-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious ahead of the FOMC meeting later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial, technology, chemical and automobile companies.

For the day, the index gained 21.31 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 2,536.80 after trading between 2,522.64 and 2,542.83. Volume was 576.9 million shares worth 9.83 trillion won. There were 542 gainers and 321 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.60 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.34 percent, Hana Financial perked 0.17 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.58 percent, LG Electronics improved 0.71 percent, SK Hynix added 0.68 percent, Naver slid 0.24 percent, LG Chem lost 0.42 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.35 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.75 percent, POSCO Holdings improved 0.77 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.18 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.96 percent, Hyundai Mobis surged 4.56 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 1.91 percent, Kia Motors dropped 0.97 percent and Samsung Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened barely higher on Friday but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the session in the red.

The Dow stumbled 140.85 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 44,424.25, while the NASDAQ sank 99.40 points or 0.50 percent to close at 19,954.30 and the S&P 500 fell 17.47 points or 0.29 percent to end at 6,101.24. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow surged 2.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both jumped 1.7 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week.

Recent economic data has led to concerns about the Fed leaving rates on hold for a prolonged period, but many economists still expect the central bank to resume cutting rates sometime in the first half of the year.

On U.S. economic front, data from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated by more than estimated in January. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales jumped much more than expected in December

Oil futures were roughly flat on Friday, continuing to look for support after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $74.66 a barrel to snap a six-day losing streak. WTI crude futures lost 3 percent in the week.