KOSPI May Pierce 2,700-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had given up almost 20 points or 0.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,675-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets finished slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the technology stocks were capped by weakness from the financial and industrial sectors.

For the day, the index improved 12.03 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 2,674.31 after trading between 2,668.66 and 2,686.51. Volume was 266.9 million shares worth 9.71 trillion won. There were 580 gainers and 292 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial and Hana Financial both stumbled 1.75 percent, while KB Financial slumped 1.15 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.41 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 1.09 percent, LG Electronics accelerated 2.16 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.36 percent, Naver spiked 2.55 percent, LG Chem rose 0.31 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.72 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.95 percent, POSCO shed 0.73 percent, KEPCO tanked 2.47 percent, Hyundai Mobis dropped 0.91 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.16 percent, Kia Motors lost 0.47 percent and S-Oil and SK Telecom were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday, faded midday but rallied going into the close.

The Dow climbed 228.03 points or 0.55 percent to finish at a fresh record 41,563.08, while the NASDAQ spiked 197.20 points or 1.13 percent to end at 17,713.62 and the S&P 500 gained 56.44 points or 1.01 percent to close at 5,648.40. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 0.9 percent, the Dow added 0.9 percent and the S&P rose 0.2 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street followed the Commerce Department report on U.S. consumer price inflation that is said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The report showed consumer prices increased in line with estimates in July, while the annual rate of price growth was unexpectedly flat.

While the data has reinforced expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed this month, traders expressed uncertainty about the pace of rate cuts, leading to some volatility in the markets.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is a 69.5 percent chance of a quarter-point rate cut next month and a 30.5 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.

Crude oil showed a significant move to the downside on Friday on reports that OPEC is set to proceed with a planned oil output hike from October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $2.36 or 3.1 percent to $73.55 a barrel.