KOSPI May See Profit Taking On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in nine straight sessions, surging more than 250 points or 7.9 percent along the way. Now at another fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just beneath the 3,350-point plateau and it is overdue for consolidation on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with geopolitical concerns in the Middle East likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher again on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and chemical companies.

For the day, the index soared 51.34 points or 1.54 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,395.54 after moving as low as 3,362.86. Volume was 444.9 million shares worth 13.8 trillion won. There were 521 gainers and 344 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial accelerated 2.21 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.45 percent, Hana Financial climbed 1.14 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.72 percent, Samsung SDI improved 1.06 percent, LG Electronics advanced 1.45 percent, SK Hynix surged 7.00 percent, Naver strengthened 1.29 percent, LG Chem rose 0.43 percent, Lotte Chemical increased 1.21 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.55 percent, POSCO Holdings gained 1.24 percent, SK Telecom gathered 0.36 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.73 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.79 percent, Hyundai Motor perked 0.22 percent and Kia Motors lost 0.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and closed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow dropped 273.78 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 45,834.22, while the NASDAQ gained 98.03 points or 0.44 percent to close at 22,141.10 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.18 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,584.29.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 shot up 1.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.0 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.

Traders will pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of more rate cuts. Currently, the Fed is expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.

Crude oil has moved higher Friday as concerns over supply side disruptions linger, with the Russia-Ukraine war intensifying and a new conflict brewing in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.31 or 0.50 percent at $62.68 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide August figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to fall 4.0 percent on year after rising 3.3 percent in July. Exports are called higher by an annual 1.3 percent, moderating from 4.3 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $6.51 billion, down from $9.08 billion.