Tech Shares May Lift South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two of three days since ending the 11-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 300 points or 9.6 percent. The KOSPI sits just above the 3,440-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday following profit taking among the technology, chemical and automobile stocks, while the financial shares came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 16.06 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,445.24 after trading between 3,434.61 and 3,467.89. Volume was 339.5 million shares worth 14.18 trillion won. There were 635 decliners and 242 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.16 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.77 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.11 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.99 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 2.53 percent, LG Electronics plunged 3.77 percent, Naver retreated 1.89 percent, LG Chem tanked 3.32 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 2.65 percent, SK Innovation slumped 2.53 percent, POSCO Holdings fell 0.53 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.36 percent, KEPCO declined 2.60 percent, Hyundai Mobis plummeted 2.84 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 2.06 percent, Kia Motors shed 0.49 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.