The South Korean stock market has been fluctuating in recent times, alternating between gains and losses over the last seven trading days. After a three-day winning streak that resulted in an increase of just 8 points (0.3 percent), the KOSPI is now a touch over 2,680 points and would likely continue this downward trend on Monday.
Current global predictions for Asian markets are rather pessimistic due to increasing doubts regarding the future of interest rates. With mixed results in European markets and losses across US markets, it is expected that the Asian markets will follow their US counterparts.
Friday saw the KOSPI finishing slightly lower following losses from the financial sector, technology stocks, and industrials. The index fell by 25.14 points (0.93 percent) to close at 2,681.82. The day's trading volume touched 501.3 million shares worth 11.7 trillion Korean won, with 507 decliners and 368 gainers.
Significant contributors to this activity included Shinhan Financial, which lost 2.90 percent, KB Financial which fell by 2.93 percent, Hana Financial which saw a dip of 5.17 percent, among others.
On Wall Street, shares began lower on Friday and continued to decline throughout the day, with the Dow falling by 475.84 points (1.24 percent) to end at 37,983.24. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also recorded significant losses.
Over the week, the Dow saw a drop of 2.5 percent, the S&P lost 1.6 percent, and the NASDAQ fell 0.5 percent. Worries about inflation pressures were a key factor in this decline due to import prices in the US increasing more than expected in March, which reduced hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in June.
Subpar earnings and guidance also alarmed investors. Oil prices, on the other hand, rose on Friday due to concerns around supply caused by escalating tensions in the Middle East between Iran and Israel.
