South Korea Shares May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 45 points or 1.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,415-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing concerns over the health of financial sectors. The European markets were down and the U.. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and industrial, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 9.52 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 2,414.96. Volume was 452.04 million shares worth 8.86 trillion won. There were 464 gainers and 393 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surrendered 3.36 percent, while KB Financial plummeted 3.88 percent, Hana Financial plunged 3.81 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.12 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 3,62 percent, LG Electronics improved 1.07 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.36 percent, Naver sank 0.74 percent, LG Chem tumbled 3.09 percent, Lotte Chemical weakened 2.37 percent, S-Oil fell 0.39 percent, SK Innovation added 0.25 percent, POSCO slumped 2.13 percent, SK Telecom strengthened 1.15 percent, KEPCO rose 0.11 percent, Hyundai Mobis dropped 3.22 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 1.55 percent and Kia Motors skidded 1.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness, improving as the day progressed to finish solidly in the green.

The Dow climbed 132.33 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 32,237.53, while the NASDAQ added 36.56 points or 0.31 percent to close at 11,823.96 and the S&P 500 rose 22.27 points or 0.56 percent to end at 3,970.99.

For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, the NASDAQ climbed 1.7 percent and the S&P gained 1.4 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street came on renewed concerns about the health of the banking sector. U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) moved sharply lower in early trading amid a spike by the German lender's credit default swaps, while Credit Suisse (CS) and UBS Group (UBS) also came under pressure.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders felt the banking concerns may have been overdone amid optimism the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns that rising interest rates might hurt growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.70 or 1 percent at $69.26 a barrel.