Continued Consolidation Called For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the five-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 120 points or 4.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,515-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative after strong U.S. employment data weighed heavily on the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets ended firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower as profit taking among the technology and chemical companies was offset by support from the financials and industrials.

For the day, the index fell 6.12 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 2,515.78. Volume was 365.58 million shares worth 9.43 trillion won. There were 462 gainers and 406 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.71 percent, while KB Financial improved 1.27 percent, Hana Financial perked 0.17 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.43 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 1.10 percent, SK Hynix sank 0.73 percent, Naver dipped 0.25 percent, LG Chem stumbled 1.61 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.33 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 2.20 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.38 percent, SK Telecom added 0.54 percent, KEPCO gained 0.49 percent, Hyundai Mobis jumped 1.78 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 6.10 percent, Kia Motors rallied 2.23 percent and LG Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 696.75 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 41,938.45, while the NASDAQ tumbled 317.27 points or 1.63 percent to close at 19,161.63 and the S&P 500 dropped 91.21 points or 1.54 percent to end at 5,827.04.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of buoyant non-farm payroll data, which raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will likely hold interest rates at current levels or slow down the pace of reductions.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data is also likely to give the Federal Reserve confidence in its plan to gradually lower interest rates over the coming year.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday, riding on the Biden Administration's decision to impose additional sanctions on Russia's oil exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $2.65 or 3.6 percent at $76.57 a barrel, the highest settlement in three months.