South Korea Bourse Tipped To Extend Rally On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 65 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,340-point plateau and it's looking at another solid lead again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on rising optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the technology stocks, chemicals, oil companies and automobile producers - while the financials were soft.

For the day, the index rallied 41.56 points or 1.81 percent to finish at 2,343.12 after trading between 2,333.41 and 2,351.91. Volume was 370 million shares worth 7.57 trillion won. There were 693 gainers and 207 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.43 percent, while KB Financial shed 0.58 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.52 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.60 percent, Samsung SDI surged 5.99 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.60 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.16 percent, Naver strengthened 1.65 percent, LG Chem improved 5.68 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 2.27 percent, S-Oil climbed 1.05 percent, SK Innovation increased 5.98 percent, POSCO skyrocketed 6.21 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.30 percent, KEPCO plunged 3.46 percent, Hyundai Mobis spiked 2.82 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.00 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 564.50 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 33,839.08, while the NASDAQ jumped 232.72 points or 1.78 percent to end at 13,294.19 and the S&P 500 rallied 79.92 points of 1.89 percent to close at 4,317.78.

The rally on Wall Street came on optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed left rates unchanged for the third time in the past four meetings, suggesting the central bank is done raising interest rates.

Treasury yields moved notably lower Wednesday and showed another significant move to the downside today, adding to the buying interest.

Traders will look now to the Labor Department's closely watched employment report for the month of October, due out later today.

Crude oil futures climbed higher Thursday as the dollar weakened on bets the Federal Reserve is done with its rate hiking cycle. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rallied $2.02 or 2.5 percent at $82.46 a barrel.