South Korea Bourse Tipped To Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 30 points or 1.2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just shy of the 2,565-point plateau and it's expected to add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to better than expected inflation data. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financials, chemicals and industrials were capped by weakness from the technology shares.

For the day, the index gained 14.26 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 2,564.28. Volume was 498.9 million shares worth 8.04 trillion won. There were 612 gainers and 260 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.44 percent, while KB Financial strengthened 1.38 percent, Hana Financial climbed 1.03 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.28 percent, Samsung SDI gained 0.60 percent, LG Electronics added 0.56 percent, SK Hynix sank 0.86 percent, Naver slumped 0.33 percent, LG Chem increased 1.06 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.64 percent, S-Oil and SK Telecom both improved 0.76 percent, SK Innovation rose 0.32 percent, POSCO perked 0.13 percent, KEPCO soared 2.74 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 2.88 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.98 percent and Kia Motors spiked 2.91 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, closing near session highs.

The Dow jumped 285.20 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 34,407.60, while the NASDAQ rallied 196.62 points or 1.45 percent to end at 13,787.92 and the S&P 500 climbed 53.94 points or 1.23 percent to close at 4,450.38.

For the week, the S&P 500 spiked 2.4 percent, the NASDAQ shot up 2.2 percent and the Dow leapt 2.0 percent. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also posted substantial gains for the first half of 2023.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Commerce Department report showing an unexpected slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth in May.

While economists generally still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by another quarter point this month, the data added to optimism the central bank will not follow through with additional rate hikes.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending recent gains, as a drop in U.S. crude inventories continued to support the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.78 or 1.1 percent at $70.64 a barrel. However, WTI Crude futures shed about 12 percent in H1 and more than 6 percent in Q2.