South Korea Bourse Poised To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 10 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,565-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, especially among the oil and technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index lost 7.28 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 2,566.36 after trading between 2,559.24 and 2,576.74. Volume was 357.3 million shares worth 9.8 trillion won. There were 508 gainers and 356 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial fell 0.33 percent, while KB Financial shed 0.38 percent, Hana Financial tumbled 2.44 percent, Samsung SDI plummeted 6.18 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.40 percent, Naver plunged 3.70 percent, LG Chem stumbled 4.74 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.72 percent, SK Innovation tanked 5.17 percent, POSCO Holdings surrendered 2.56 percent, SK Telecom slumped 1.25 percent, KEPCO lost 0.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis eased 0.20 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.24 percent, Kia Motors dropped 0.90 percent and Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday and continued to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 674.62 points or 1.65 percent to finish at 41,488.19, while the NASDAQ rallied 451.07 points or 2.61 percent to close at 17,754.09 and the S&P 500 jumped 117.42 points or 2.13 percent to end at 5,638.94.

For the week, the Dow plunged 3.1 percent, the NASDAQ tumbled 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 slumped 2.3 percent.

The rally on Wall Street saw traders pick up stocks at reduced levels after the steep drop on Thursday, which dragged the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in six months - and also sending the S&P into correction territory.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a substantial deterioration in consumer sentiment and a surge by inflation expectations in the month of March.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday as worries about excess supply in the market eased after the U.S. government announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.63 or 1 percent at $67.18 a barrel.