The South Korean stock market experienced gains last Friday, recovering from its two-day losing streak where it had surged almost 70 points or 2.6 percent. The KOSPI ended just above 2,725 points and is projected to remain around this range next Monday.
Global forecasts hint at slight upward movement for Asian markets, despite uncertainty surrounding interest rate predictions. Although European markets demonstrated growth and U.S. indices remained relatively stable, Asian markets are expected to experience mixed outcomes.
On Friday, the KOSPI closed with modest gains, boosted by the financial, chemical, and industrial sectors, while technology stocks demonstrated varied performance. The index increased by 15.49 points or 0.57 percent to close at 2,727.63. The trading day saw a volume of 568.36 million shares worth 11.07 trillion won, with 489 stocks gaining and 365 declining.
Active stocks included Shinhan Financial which spiked by 2.69 percent, and KB Financial which soared by 3.52 percent. Hana Financial saw a surge of 4.37 percent, while LG Electronics skyrocketed by 4.50 percent. However, Samsung Electronics fell by 0.63 percent and Samsung SDI was down by 0.35 percent.
The cautious optimism from Wall Street saw major averages opening higher on Friday, with the Dow increasing by 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to close at 39,512.84. Conversely, the NASDAQ dipped slightly by 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to end at 16,340.87. Despite this, for that week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent respectively.
This early upward trend was partly due to renewed optimism about the U.S.'s interest rate outlook. Recent data hints at potential weakness in the U.S. labor market, boosting investor confidence that the Federal Reserve could reduce interest rates soon.
However, this optimism was somewhat tempered by a University of Michigan report showing a significant decline in U.S. consumer sentiment in May, along with notable increase in inflation expectations for the coming year.
Uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions and concerns about oil demand due to potential economic slowdown caused crude oil prices to fall. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June dropped $1.00, closing at $78.26 a barrel.
