Soft Start Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 80 points or 3.5 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,455-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on inflation worries and geopolitical concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks, chemical companies and industrials.

For the day, the index dropped 23.67 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 2,456.15 after trading between 2,452.83 and 2,466.62. Volume was 576.69 million shares worth 7.06 trillion won. There were 593 decliners and 277 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dipped 0.14 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.18 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.58 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.31 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 1.68 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.85 percent, SK Hynix added 0.40 percent, Naver dropped 0.93 percent, LG Chem eased 0.19 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 1.01 percent, S-Oil gained 0.54 percent, SK Innovation gathered 0.20 percent, POSCO skidded 1.16 percent, SK Telecom was up 0.10 percent, KEPCO slid 0.17 percent, Hyundai Mobis shed 0.64 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.48 percent and Kia Motors fell 0.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly headed south, although the Dow was able to recover before the close.

The Dow added 39.15 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,670.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.99 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,407.23 and the S&P 500 slumped 21.83 points or 0.50 percent to close at 4,327.78.

For the week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and S&P rose 0.5 percent.

Selling pressure emerged following the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing a slump in consumer sentiment and a surge in inflation expectations. The data generated some negative sentiment, although a decrease in treasury yields helped to limit the downside.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid rising concerns about the potential impact on global crude supplies due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November spiked $4.78 or 5.8 percent at $87.69 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 6 percent in the week.