South Korea Bourse May Run Out Of Steam On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, collecting more than 75 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,645-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat thanks to ongoing tariff concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were barely higher, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financials, chemicals and other industrials.

For the day, the index added 6.03 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,643.13 after trading between 2,617.78 and 2,645.82. Volume was 482.32 million shares worth 13.73 trillion won. There were 562 decliners and 316 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.53 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.22 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.49 percent, Samsung SDI dropped 0.99 percent, LG Electronics and Naver both improved 0.72 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.62 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.75 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.28 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.44 percent, POSCO Holdings tumbled 1.81 percent, KEPCO added 0.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 1.48 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.23 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.31 percent and Hana Financial and SK Telecom were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up slightly positive as the major averages spent almost all of Friday in the red before peeking into the green just before the close.

The Dow added 32.05 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 41,985.35, while the NASDAQ gained 92.45 points or 0.52 percent to close at 17,784.05 and the S&P 500 perked 4.67 points or 0.08 percent to end at 5,667.56.

For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, while the S&P and the NASDAQ both ended four-week losing streaks, rising by 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the economic outlook along with rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty about the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Crude oil prices bounced higher on Friday on geopolitical tensions after new U.S. sanctions against a Chinese refinery that purchased Iranian oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery climbed $0.23 or 0.3 percent to $68.30 a barrel.