South Korea Bourse May Find Support At 2,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking nearly 120 points or 5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,300-point plateau although it may finally stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after heavy selling last week, especially among the oil and technology stocks. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the oil and technology stocks, while the industrials were mixed and the financials offered support.

For the day, the index dropped 27.22 points or 1.17 percent to finish at 2,305.42 after trading between 2,291.49 and 2,354.97. Volume was 520 million shares worth 8.5 trillion won. There were 638 decliners and 238 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 2.29 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.10 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.14 percent, Samsung Electronics declined 1.40 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 3.76 percent, LG Electronics spiked 1.81 percent, SK Hynix tanked 3.85 percent, Naver retreated 1.25 percent, LG Chem slumped 1.36 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 2.50 percent, S-Oil plunged 3.94 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 7.55 percent, POSCO advanced 0.87 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.54 percent, KEPCO perked 0.22 percent, Hyundai Motor dipped 0.28 percent and Kia Motors gained 0.91 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks shook off early listlessness on Friday, accelerating in the second half to finish near session highs.

The Dow spiked 321.86 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 31,097.26, while the NASDAQ jumped 99.14 points or 0.90 percent to close at 11,127.84 and the S&P 500 soared 39.95 points or 1.06 percent to end at 3,825.33.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 4.1 percent, the S&P sank 2.2 percent and the Dow dropped 1.3 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street came as traders went bargain hunting following early session selling. Concerns about the possibility of tighter monetary policy triggering a global recession also weigh on the markets in early trading.

Stocks fell under pressure following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in June, while a separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. construction spending unexpectedly edged lower in May.

Crude oil prices moved higher Friday on concerns about supply outages in Libya and shutdowns in Norway caused by striking workers. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.67 or 2.5 percent at $108.43 a barrel. WTI crude oil futures rose 1 percent in the week.