South Korea Bourse Poised To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Children's Day, the South Korea stock market had moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 25 points or 1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,500-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid economic and earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Thursday as losses from the technology and automobile stocks were offset by support from the financial and chemical sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 0.46 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 2,500.94 after trading between 2,486.09 and 2,502.14. Volume was 797.8 million shares worth 9.85 trillion won. There were 437 decliners and 429 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.57 percent, while KB Financial advanced 0.83 percent, Hana Financial perked 0.12 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.46 percent, LG Electronics eased 0.09 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.22 percent, Naver and SK Innovation both jumped 1.82 percent, LG Chem gained 0.69 percent, Lotte Chemical was up 0.06 percent, S-Oil fell 0.28 percent, POSCO dipped 0.26 percent, SK Telecom added 0.42 percent, KEPCO climbed 0.90 percent, Hyundai Mobis declined 1.36 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.90 percent and Kia Motors lost 0.69 percent.

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

The Dow surged 546.68 points or 1.65 percent to finish at 33,674.38, while the NASDAQ rallied 269.01 points or 2.25 percent to end at 12,235.41 and the S&P 500 jumped 75.03 points or 1.85 percent to close at 4,136.25. For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.1 percent, the S&P slid 0.8 percent and the Dow fell 1.2 percent.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

Regional banks helped lead the recovery after ongoing concerns about turmoil in the sector weighed on the markets in recent sessions, while strong quarterly results from tech giant Apple (AAPL) fueled gains on the NASDAQ.

Traders also reacted to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report for April, which showed that job growth far exceeded estimates and the unemployment rate ticked lower.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on easing recession concerns in some of the world's major economies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $2.78 or 4.1 percent at $71.34 a barrel but was down more than 7 percent for the week.