The South Korea stock market has ended lower in two consecutive sessions, dropping more than 80 points or 3.2 percent. The KOSPI now stands just above the 2,400-point level and is expected to receive support on Monday. On Friday, the KOSPI finished sharply lower because of losses in financial shares, technology stocks, industrials, and chemical companies. For the day, it stumbled 31.78 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 2,404.15, with trading occurring between 2,389.86 and 2,430.69. The volume was 606.4 million shares worth 9.12 trillion won, and there were 703 decliners and 204 gainers.
Performance of Key Stocks
Among the active stocks, Shinhan Financial slumped 1.23 percent, KB Financial retreated 1.27 percent, and Hana Financial tanked 2.74 percent. Samsung Electronics dipped 0.19 percent, Samsung SDI weakened 1.25 percent, and LG Electronics stumbled 2.16 percent. SK Hynix plunged 3.71 percent, while Naver rose 0.24 percent, and LG Chem eased 0.19 percent. Lotte Chemical plummeted 3.84 percent, and SK Innovation climbed 1.04 percent, among other companies with varying changes in their share prices like POSCO Holdings declining 1.33 percent and Hyundai Mobis surrendering 2.40 percent.
Influence of Global Markets
The global forecast for Asian markets is cautiously optimistic based on an improved interest rate outlook. European markets were down while U.S. bourses were up, and Asian markets are expected to follow the U.S. lead. On Wall Street, there was a positive turn on Friday. The Dow rallied 498.06 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 42,840.26, the NASDAQ jumped 199.80 points or 1.03 percent to close at 19,572.60, and the S&P 500 gained 63.77 points or 1.09 percent to end at 5,930.85. However, for the week, the Dow plunged 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent, and the NASDAQ slumped 1.8 percent. The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the Commerce Department’s report on personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which led traders to buy stocks after a mid-week sell-off.
Oil Futures Situation
Oil futures settled higher on Friday as the dollar came off two-year highs after soft PCE readings eased concerns about interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures perked $0.08 or about 0.1 percent to $69.46 a barrel, though they shed 2.5 percent over the week.
Related topics：
