The South Korean stock market has experienced a fluctuation between gains and losses over the past five trading days following a three-day decline during which it fell nearly 40 points or 1.6 percent. Currently, the KOSPI stands just above the 2,580-point mark and is expected to remain within this range as the new week begins.
Globally, the outlook for Asian markets appears uncertain due to concerns over potential interest rate changes. With European and U.S. markets experiencing a mixed and relatively flat trend, Asian markets are anticipated to mirror this pattern.
On Friday, the KOSPI registered a slight uptick, with financial sector gains balancing out the losses in the technology sector. The index increased by 2.24 points, or 0.09 percent, closing at 2,583.27 and trading within a range of 2,577.00 to 2,611.27. The trading volume stood at 454.58 million shares, with a turnover of 10.14 trillion won. The market saw 617 stocks decline and 258 advance.
Noteworthy movements among active stocks included Shinhan Financial's 3.39 percent gain and KB Financial soaring by 8.37 percent. Hana Financial surged 4.07 percent, while Samsung Electronics decreased by 1.24 percent. Both Samsung SDI and LG Chem fell 1.68 percent, LG Electronics plunged 5.25 percent, SK Hynix gained 1.41 percent, Naver dropped 2.50 percent, Lotte Chemical edged up 0.22 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.78 percent, POSCO slipped 1.18 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.35 percent, KEPCO declined 1.08 percent, Hyundai Mobis climbed 2.60 percent, Hyundai Motor decreased 1.31 percent, and Kia Motors increased by 1.98 percent.
Wall Street's guidance remains ambiguous, as major indexes opened slightly higher on Friday but saw a downturn throughout the day, leading to a mixed performance. The Dow dropped 259.96 points or 0.61 percent to close at 42,114.40. The NASDAQ rose 103.12 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 18,518.61, while the S&P 500 slightly edged down by 1.74 points or 0.03 percent to 5,808.12.
Over the past week, the Dow declined by 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 slipped by 1.0 percent, although the NASDAQ registered a 0.2 percent increase.
Initially, stocks showed promising growth amidst optimistic economic sentiment when the University of Michigan reported an unexpected improvement in consumer confidence for October. However, buying interest diminished as treasury yields rebounded, driven by persistent concerns that the Federal Reserve might reduce interest rates more gradually than previously predicted.
Oil prices saw a significant increase on Friday due to geopolitical tensions and potential output changes from OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December climbed by $1.69 or 2.3 percent, closing at $71.78 per barrel. Over the week, WTI crude futures gained 3.8 percent.
