South Korea Shares May Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 50 points or 2 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,600-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the automobile producers and technology stocks, losses from the chemicals and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 2.25 points or 0.09 percent to finish 2,596.91. Volume was 470.8 million shares worth 9.26 trillion won. There were 487 decliners and 367 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 1.23 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.56 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.65 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.68 percent, Samsung SDI accelerated 1.35 percent, LG Electronics increased 1.34 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.37 percent, Naver gained 0.52 percent, LG Chem lost 0.56 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 4.05 percent, S-Oil shed 0.65 percent, SK Innovation stumbled 3.66 percent, POSCO retreated 1.21 percent, SK Telecom improved 0.72 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.35 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.02 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.30 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but quickly moved to the upside and remained that way, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 409.76 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,863.86, while the NASDAQ added 60.94 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,342.94 and the S&P 500 rose 34.98 points or 0.61 percent to end at 5,815.03. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both gained 1.1 percent.

The strength on Wall Street partly a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September.

The data reinforced optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50-basis point cut next month have largely evaporated.

On the corporate front, companies like Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) surged on strong quarterly results, while Tesla (TSLA) tumbled after unveiling its robotaxi.

Crude oil prices saw a modest pullback on Friday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.29 or 0.4 percent to $75.56 a barrel. Despite the pullback on the day, the price of crude oil jumped by 1.6 percent for the week.