South Korea Shares Overdue For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in four straight sessions, rallying more than 270 points or 5.5 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 5,220-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with any upside likely limited by inflation concerns and profit taking among oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Friday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and weakness from the financial shares and automobile producers.

For the day, the index rose 3.11 points or 0.06 percent to close at 5,224.36 moving after trading between 5,199.78 and 5,321.68. Volume was 852 million shares worth 34.7 trillion won. There were 602 decliners and 278 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.94 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 1.89 percent, Hana Financial plunged 3.38 percent, Samsung Electronics dipped 0.12 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.52 percent, LG Electronics stumbled 1.78 percent, SK Hynix surged 5.57 percent, Naver plummeted 4.18 percent, LG Chem cratered 9.48 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.37 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.32 percent, POSCO Holdings surrendered 4,53 percent, SK Telecom spiked 4.32 percent, KEPCO retreated 4.43 percent, Hyundai Mobis contracted 1.75 percent, Hyundai Motor crashed 5.30 percent and Kia Motors slumped 1.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 179.09 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 48,892.47, while the NASDAQ sank 223.30 points or 0.94 percent to end at 23,461.82 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,939.03.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.3 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and the Dow fell 0.4 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department reported that producer prices increased by much more than expected in December.

New tariff threats from President Donald Trump may also have contributed to the negative sentiment, as well as news that Trump announced his intent to nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Crude oil prices slid on Friday as the U.S. dollar index moved higher, while the possibility of diplomatic intervention in the U.S.-Iran conflict also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.22 or 0.34 percent at $65.20 per barrel.