South Korea Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 15 points or 0.6 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,560-point plateau and it's poised to add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to an apparent resolution to the U.S. debt ceiling crisis forged over the weekend. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the technology stocks and automobile producers were capped by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index rose 4.12 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 2,558.81 after trading between 2,553.79 and 2,567.50. Volume was 618.73 million shares worth 9.26 trillion won. There were 672 decliners and 193 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.57 percent, while KB Financial lost 0.72 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.73 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.18 percent, LG Electronics perked 0.09 percent, SK Hynix surged 5.51 percent, Naver tumbled 1.70 percent, LG Chem dropped 0.84 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 0.53 percent, S-Oil fell 0.67 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.56 percent, POSCO declined 1.23 percent, KEPCO added 0.38 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.98 percent, Kia Motors rose 0.34 percent and SK Telecom and Hyundai Mobis were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 328.64 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 33,093.34, while the NASDAQ spiked 277.59 points or 2.19 percent to end at 12,975.69 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.17 points or 1.30 percent to close at 4,205.45. For the week, the Dow slumped 1.0 percent, the NASDAQ rallied 2.5 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

Stocks benefitted from renewed optimism about raising the U.S. debt ceiling amid reports lawmakers are closing in on an agreement.

Those hopes came to fruition over the weekend when President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached an agreement in principle. It will raise the debt ceiling for two years and keep non-defense spending roughly flat for fiscal 2024.

Optimism about a debt ceiling deal overshadowed a Commerce Department report showing a reacceleration in the annual rate of consumer price growth in the month of April.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday after Russia played down the prospect of additional output cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.84 or 1.2 percent at $72.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 1.6 percent last week.