(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 100 points or 4.2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,350-point and it's expected to tick higher again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism for economic recovery, although a rising number of coronavirus cases may limit the upside. The European markets were down on Friday and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financial shares and industrial stocks were capped by weakness from the technology companies.
For the day, the index picked up 9.35 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 2,353.80 after trading between 2,345.28 and 2,379.26. Volume was 1.3 billion shares worth 15.3 trillion won. There were 583 gainers and 253 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial advanced 1.00 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.84 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.87 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.36 percent, LG Electronics dipped 0.35 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 1.64 percent, LG Chem fell 0.39 percent, Lotte Chemical gathered 1.39 percent, SK Innovation gained 0.96 percent, POSCO perked 0.53 percent, SK Telecom skidded 1.22 percent, KEPCO climbed 1.47 percent, Hyundai Motors soared 5.20 percent, Kia Motors jumped 1.30 percent and S-Oil was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved higher on Friday, sending the NASDAQ and S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 161.60 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 28,653.87, while the NASDAQ gained 70.30 points or 0.60 percent to end at 11,695.63 and the S&P 500 rose 23.46 points or 0.67 percent to close at 3,508.01. For the week, the Dow gained 2.6 percent, the NASDAQ rose 3.4 percent and the S&P was up 3.3 percent.
The support on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement of the central bank's adoption of average inflation targeting. Powell's comments on Thursday were seen as an indication the Fed will leave interest rates at near-zero levels for the foreseeable future even if there is an acceleration in the pace of inflation.
Adding to the positive sentiment, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in personal income in July. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by more than estimated in August.
Crude oil prices ended slightly lower on Friday, as worries about the near-term energy demand outlook amid a surge in new coronavirus cases weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $0.07 or 0.2 percent at $42.97 a barrel.
Closer to home, South Korea will release July numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is forecast to have risen 1.9 percent on month and dropped 1.2 percent on year after climbing 7.2 percent on month and falling 0.5 percent on year in June. Retail sales rose 3.4 percent on month and 6.3 percent on year in June.
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