South Korea Shares May Ebb Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had surged nearly 100 points or 3.9 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,750-point plateau and it may remain stuck in neutral on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with strength from technology stocks offset by weakness from oil companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are likely on the same path.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the automobile companies and financials and a mixed performances from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index sank 6.30 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,748.56 after trading between 2,738.75 and 2,763.06. Volume was 501.3 million shares worth 11.3 trillion won. There were 485 gainers and 381 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.59 percent, while KB Financial stumbled 1.58 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.16 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.50 percent, Samsung SDI surged 3.73 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.20 percent, SK Hynix eased 0.12 percent, Naver rallied 2.44 percent, LG Chem added 0.33 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.85 percent, S-Oil sank 0.64 percent, SK Innovation gained 0.36 percent, POSCO perked 0.12 percent, KEPCO slid 0.22 percent, Hyundai Mobis tumbled 1.50 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 3.37 percent, Kia Motors tanked 2.42 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat on Friday but quickly diverged, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending under water and the NASDAQ closing slightly in the green.

The Dow tumbled 305.50 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 39,475.90, while the NASDAQ added 27.02 points or 0.16 percent to close at 16,428.82 and the S&P 500 fell 7.35 points or 0.14 percent to end at 5,234.18. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.3 percent and the Dow jumped 2.0 percent.

Profit taking contributed to modest weakness in early trading, with some traders looking to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. Selling pressure was relatively subdued, however, as traders remained optimistic about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last week.

While the timing of the first rate remains somewhat uncertain the chances of a quarter point rate cut in June have rebounded to 66.5 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Nvidia (NVDA) paced the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the chipmaker surging by 3.1 percent. The AI darling, which has recently been a key driver of trading on Wall Street, ended the day at a record closing high.

Oil prices fell on Friday, as the dollar rose sharply with the Federal Reserve set to hold interest rates higher for now. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.44 at $80.63 a barrel.