Lower Open Anticipate For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 80 points or 3.1 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,700-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuous tariff concerns, while oil stocks are likely to be weak after OPEC+ announced another production hike over the weekend. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology and industrial companies were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index shed 22.97 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 2,697.67 after trading between 2,689.87 and 2,717.54. Volume was 513.39 million shares worth 14.08 trillion won. There were 487 decliners and 394 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.04 percent, while KB Financial strengthened 1.65 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.69 percent, Samsung Electronics perked 0.18 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 3.15 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.52 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 3.54 percent, Naver dropped 0.95 percent, LG Chem skidded 1.00 percent, SK Innovation fell 0.33 percent, POSCO Holdings retreated 1.77 percent, SK Telecom added 0.39 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.71 percent, Hyundai Mobis plummeted 3.80 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 2.98 percent, Kia Motors plunged 4.08 percent and Lotte Chemical was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages shook off a sluggish start on Friday, posting a mild recovery midday to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 54.34 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 42,270.07, while the NASDAQ slipped 62.11 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,113.77 and the S&P 500 eased 0.48 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,911.69.

The early selling pressure on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump accused China of violating the trade agreement reached last month.

But bargain hunters fueled the mild recovery later in the day.

In U.S. economic news, a closely watched report release by the Commerce Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. crept slightly higher in April.

Crude suffered a weekly loss of more than 1 percent due to uncertainty over Trump's tariffs and their likely impact on global growth and fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery eased $0.18 or 0.30 percent to $60.76 a barrel.