Rebound Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday ended the six-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 320 points or 8.6 percent to a record closing high. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 3,850-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following profit taking among the finance, technology, chemical and automobile sectors.

For the day, the index dropped 38.12 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 3,845.56 after trading between 3,822.33 and 3,902.21. Volume was 418.6 million shares worth 16 trillion won. There were 608 decliners and 259 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skidded 1.08 percent, while KB Financial dropped 0.86 percent, Hana Financial slumped 1.02 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 2.13 percent, Samsung SDI and SK Hynix both shed 0.62 percent, LG Electronics added 0.67 percent, Naver plunged 5.09 percent, LG Chem fell 0.38 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.71 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.43 percent, POSCO Holdings perked 0.16 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.73 percent, KEPCO plummeted 3.99 percent, Hyundai Mobis cratered 2.70 percent, Hyundai Motor tanked 3.45 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 2.62 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.