South Korea Bourse May Erase Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 50 points or 2 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,560-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, gains from the chemical companies and mixed performances from the technology and automobile stocks.

For the day, the index shed 12.68 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 2,563.48. Volume was 558.4 million shares worth 11.8 trillion won. There were 541 decliners and 348 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tanked 2.91 percent, while KB Financial slumped 1.15 percent, Hana Financial surrendered 2.52 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.10 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.82 percent, LG Electronics retreated 2.01 percent, Naver stumbled 2.74 percent, LG Chem soared 6.38 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 7.01 percent, SK Innovation climbed 1.19 percent, POSCO Holdings surged 7.28 percent, SK Telecom dropped 1.07 percent, KEPCO shed 0.67 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.39 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.34 percent, Kia Motors sank 1.22 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the green by the close.

The Dow climbed 222.62 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 42,801.72, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.92 points or 0.70 percent to close at 18,196.22 and the S&P 500 gained 31.68 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,770.20. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 3.5 percent, the S&P 500 sank 3.1 percent and the Dow slumped 2.4 percent.

The volatility on Wall followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in February.

While the report added to recent concerns about the strength for the economy, the data may also have generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Bargain hunting contributed to the afternoon recovery, which came even though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank does not "need to be in a hurry" to adjusted interest rates amid uncertainty about the effects of President Donald Trump's policies.

Crude oil prices faded after an early surge but still remained notably higher on Friday, adding to the modest gain posted in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery climbed $0.68 cents or 1.0 percent to $67.04 a barrel.