South Korea Shares May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 150 points or 2.1 percent in that span. The KOSPI now sits just above the 6,900-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing oil prices and likely bargain hunting. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses among the technology, finance, energy and automobile sectors, in particular.

For the day, the index tumbled 124.01 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 6,909.91 after trading between 6,802.50 and 6,948.83. Volume was 265.92 million shares worth 19.39 trillion won. There were 473 decliners and 368 gainers.

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

The Dow jumped 509.19 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 52,573,29, while the NASDAQ rallied 251.31 points or 0.96 percent to close at 26,333.04 and the S&P 500 gained 65.28 points or 0.86 percent to end at 7,656.98.

Despite the rebound on the day, the major averages all moved to the downside for the holiday-shortened week. The Dow slumped by 1.6 percent, while the S&P and the NASDAQ slid by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The recovery rally on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, which had skyrocketed over the past few days, while bargain hunting also contributed to the upswing.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday amid hopes of a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on reports of a possible meeting between Iran and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to defuse the gulf crisis. West Texas Intermediate Crude for October delivery was down $2.63 or 2.57 percent at $99.85 per barrel.

Traders shrugged off the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in August, which was in line with forecasts. The data solidified expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter-point this week, although it's largely already priced in.