Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 30 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,430-point plateau and it's poised to add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, supported by oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the chemicals, weakness from the financials and industrials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 4.22 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 2,432.07. Volume was 363.8 million shares worth 7.73 trillion won. There were 467 gainers and 410 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.72 percent, while KB Financial skidded 1.19 percent, Hana Financial retreated 1.57 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.49 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.96 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.54 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.91 percent, Naver slid 0.24 percent, LG Chem surged 3.69 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.90 percent, S-Oil stumbled 1.20 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.19 percent, POSCO declined 1.48 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.22 percent, KEPCO fell 0.33 percent, Hyundai Mobis dipped 0.23 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 1.34 percent and Kia Motors added 0.51 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 387.37 points or 1.17 percent to finish at 33,390.97, while the NASDAQ rallied 226.01 points or 1.97 percent to end at 11,689.01 and the S&P 500 jumped 64.29 points or 1.61 percent to close at 4,045.64. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 2.6 percent, the S&P gained 1.9 percent and the Dow climbed 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. A pullback by treasury yields also generated some buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving ground after jumping to a three-month closing high above 4.0 percent.

Traders also reacted positively to a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing a very slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in February.

Crude oil prices reversed an early sell-off after the United Arab Emirates denied a report that was thinking of leaving OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $1.52 or 1.9 percent to $79.68 a barrel. For the week, crude oil spiked 4.4 percent.