Little Movement Expected For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 70 points or 2.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,725-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the finance, chemical and industrial sectors, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index added 15.49 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 2,727.63 after trading between 2,723.21 and 2,743.58. Volume was 568.36 million shares worth 11.07 trillion won. There were 489 gainers and 365 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial spiked 2.69 percent, while KB Financial soared 3.52 percent, Hana Financial surged 4.37 percent, Samsung Electronics sank 0.63 percent, Samsung SDI fell 0.35 percent, LG Electronics skyrocketed 4.50 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.57 percent, Naver rose 0.16 percent, LG Chem was up 0.13 percent, Lotte Chemical strengthened 1.21 percent, S-Oil perked 0.14 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.18 percent, POSCO improved 0.75 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.16 percent, KEPCO plummeted 5.50 percent, Hyundai Mobis added 0.44 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.90 percent and Kia Motors jumped 2.15 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.