(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market headed south again on Friday, one day after snapping the five-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 130 points or 4.4 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,830-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on continuing fears over the outlook for interest rates, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday, with losses from the oil, chemical and technology stocks mitigated by support from the financial sector.
For the day, the index sank 28.39 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 2,834.29 after trading between 2,817.11 and 2,847.95. Volume was 524 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won. There were 610 decliners and 246 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.16 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.34 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.44 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.18 percent, LG Electronics sank 4.64 percent, SK Hynix plunged 4.80 percent, Naver shed 0.60 percent, LG Chem dipped 0.29 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 1.86 percent, S-Oil tanked 2.19 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 5.08 percent, POSCO retreated 1.40 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.88 percent, KEPCO improved 0.95 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 0.99 percent and Kia Motors declined 1.35 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major U.S. markets were down again on Friday, hugging both sides of the unchanged line in the morning before going into freefall in the afternoon to end in the red for the fourth straight session.
For the day, the Dow plummeted 450.02 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 34,265.37, while the NASDAQ plunged 385.10 points or 2.72 percent to close at 13.768.92 and the S&P 500 tumbled 84.79 points or 1.89 percent to end at 4,397.94.
The particularly harsh drop on the NASDAQ was fueled by a weak earnings report from Netflix, which set off a cascade of selling pressure among the other markets.
Surging bond prices also drove the markets lower, exacerbating interest rate concerns; most analysts believe a rate hike of at least 25 basis points from the FOMC is imminent in March.
Oil prices fell finished lower on Friday for the second straight session, although they came up from session lows. Crude's correction continued after touching a seven-year high earlier in the week on demand optimism and short-term supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.86 percent at $84.81 per barrel after falling as much as 3.2 percent earlier.
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