KOSPI May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, accelerating almost 190 points or 5 percent in that span. Now at another fresh record closing high, the KOSPI rests just beneath the 3,750-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over bad loans in the auto industry. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher again on Thursday following gains from the technology, chemical and industrial sectors, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 91.09 points or 2.49 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,748.37 after moving as low as 3,675.82. Volume was 487.77 million shares worth 17.37 trillion won. There were 492 gainers and 387 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 2.25 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 1.73 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.93 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 2.84 percent, Samsung SDI soared 6.55 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.47 percent, SK Hynix surged 7.10 percent, Naver improved 0.77 percent, LG Chem spiked 6.12 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 4.96 percent, SK Innovation expanded 4.32 percent, POSCO Holdings climbed 2.87 percent, SK Telecom added 1.29 percent, KEPCO gained 2.16 percent, Hyundai Mobis increased 2.83 percent, Hyundai Motor skyrocketed 8.28 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 7.23 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but dropped into the red midday and stayed there for the balance of the session.

The Dow stumbled 301.07 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 45,952.24, while the NASDAQ clumped 107.54 points or 0.47 percent to close at 22.562.54 and the S&P 500 sank 41.99 points or 0.63 percent to end at 6,629.07.

The weakness that materialized on Wall Street was attributed to the emergence of concerns about bad loans following the recent bankruptcies of two auto industry-related companies First Brands and Tricolor Holdings.

Earlier in the day, the tech sector rose on upbeat earnings news from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), which produces chips for Nvidia (NVDA). TSM reported a bigger than expected surge in Q3 profits amid strong AI chip demand and raised its forecast for revenue growth.

On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia noted a substantial pullback by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of October.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the Energy Information said that crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased much more than expected, sparking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude Oil for November delivery was down $0.97 or 1.66 percent at $57.30 per barrel.