Overbought KOSPI Draws Another Green Light

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in seven straight sessions, accelerating almost 150 points or 6.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,365-point plateau and it's got another strong lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the release of encouraging U.S. inflation data and what it means for interest rates, although it may already have largely been priced in. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, weakness from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the oil, chemical and industrial issues.

For the day, the index rose 5.57 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 2,365.10 after trading between 2,358.33 and 2,377.80. Volume was 570 million shares worth 7.7 trillion won. There were 494 gainers and 365 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.12 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.18 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.63 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.16 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.57 percent, Naver slumped 0.51 percent, LG Chem added 0.47 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.81 percent, S-Oil slid 0.37 percent, SK Innovation rallied 2.28 percent, POSCO fell 0.34 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.29 percent, KEPCO strengthened 1.28 percent, Hyundai Mobis tumbled 1.84 percent. Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.52 percent, Kia Motors lost 0.47 percent and Samsung Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday and finally settled solidly in positive territory.

The Dow climbed 216.96 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 34,189.97, while the NASDAQ gained 69.43 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,001.10 and the S&P 500 rose 13.56 points or 0.34 percent to end at 3,983.17.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of highly anticipated consumer price inflation data, which largely was in line with forecasts.

The slower price growth eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates, although the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise rates by at least 25 basis points at its next meeting.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, gaining for a sixth straight session on a weaker dollar and data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February added $0.98 or 1.3 percent at $78.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, the Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoK is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, from 3.25 percent to 3.50 percent.