South Korea Shares May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost a dozen points of 0.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,745-point plateau and it may spin its wheels again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the technology, energy, chemical and automobile companies, while the financials offered support.

For the day, the index shed 9.29 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 2,745.82 after trading between 2,742.68 and 2,756.86. Volume was 412.5 million shares worth 11.7 trillion won. There were 561 decliners and 561 decliners and 290 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.43 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.88 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 1.25 percent, Samsung SDI shed 0.62 percent, LG Electronics dipped 0.21 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.66 percent, Naver skidded 1.16 percent, LG Chem stumbled 1.48 percent, Lotte Chemical eased 0.08 percent, S-Oil fell 0.26 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.56 percent, POSCO tumbled 1.64 percent, SK Telecom slumped 1.48 percent, KEPCO slid 0.23 percent, Hyundai Mobis skidded 1.13 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 2.87 percent, Kia Motors dropped 1.41 percent and Hana Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher but then spent most of the day hugging both side of the line before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 47.29 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,807.37, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.06 points or 0.12 percent to close at 16,379.46 and the S&P 500 rose 5.86 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,254.35. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending later today Friday that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

While the inflation data could impact the outlook for interest rates, traders will have to wait until next Monday to react to the report due to the markets being closed for Good Friday.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week. The Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023. And the National Association of Realtors noted a rebound by pending home sales in February.

Oil futures rallied on Thursday, lifted by a likely drop in supply levels due to OPEC production cuts and continued attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May spiked $1.82 or 2.2 percent at $83.17 a barrel. WTI futures gained 3.15 percent for the week.