South Korea Bourse May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 15 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,610-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing inflation concerns and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the steel companies were offset by weakness from the technology and financial shares.

For the day, the index rose 4.51 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 2,608.32 Volume was 495.38 million shares worth 16.5 trillion won. There were 635 gainers and 252 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.71 percent, while KB Financial skidded 1.16 percent, Hana Financial plunged 3.64 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.53 percent, Samsung SDI perked 0.15 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 5.87 percent, SK Hynix spiked 3.23 percent, Naver fell 0.24 percent, LG Chem declined 1.22 percent, Lotte Chemical eased 0.13 percent, S-Oil slumped 0.95 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.34 percent, POSCO surged 4.21 percent, SK Telecom dropped 1.08 percent, KEPCO sank 0.62 percent, Hyundai Mobis stumbled 0.64 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.51 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 176.59 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 35,459.29, while the NASDAQ surged 266.56 points or 1.90 percent to end at 14,316.66 and the S&P 500 advanced 44.82 points or 0.99 percent to close at 4,582.23.

The strength on Wall Street was the result of encouraging earnings updates from top tech firms and data showing a slowdown in the annual rate of growth in consumer prices in June.

Easing worries about interest rates following the Federal Reserve hinting at a pause in hikes as early as September helped as well.

The slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth may ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Thursday's better-than-expected economic data.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday, and the most active futures contract posted gains for the fifth straight week amid easing U.S. recession fears and on optimism over increased demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for September added $0.49 or 0.6 percent at $80.58 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 4.6 percent in the week.