The South Korean stock market has experienced a positive trend over the past three sessions, accumulating nearly 35 points or 1.2 percent. The KOSPI currently stands slightly above the 2,890 mark, though the rally may face a pause on Friday.
The global economic outlook for Asian markets indicates potential profit-taking, especially within the technology sector. While European markets saw gains, U.S. markets declined, which may influence Asian markets to follow suit.
On Thursday, the KOSPI saw moderate gains driven by financial, technology, and industrial stocks.
For the session, the index rose by 23.36 points or 0.81 percent, closing at 2,891.35. Trading volume reached 453 million shares, valued at 14.4 trillion won. The market had 438 advancing stocks against 414 decliners.
Key movements among active stocks included Shinhan Financial rising by 1.96 percent, KB Financial and SK Telecom both increasing by 2.15 percent, and Hana Financial gaining 0.49 percent. In contrast, Samsung Electronics dipped by 0.23 percent, although Samsung SDI surged by 4.42 percent. LG Electronics increased by 0.63 percent, SK Hynix advanced by 0.84 percent, while Naver fell by 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, LG Chem jumped 2.95 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.32 percent, and S-Oil added 0.60 percent. SK Innovation decreased by 1.11 percent, POSCO rocketed up by 6.24 percent, KEPCO rose by 0.81 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved by 0.86 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 1.46 percent, and Kia Motors ticked up by 0.25 percent.
Wall Street offered a largely negative lead, with major indices opening lower on Thursday. The Dow managed a slight gain, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ dropped from record highs.
The Dow added 32.39 points or 0.08 percent to close at 39,753.75. However, the NASDAQ fell by 364.04 points or 1.95 percent, ending at 18,283.41, and the S&P 500 decreased by 49.37 points or 0.88 percent, closing at 5,584.54.
Initial optimism regarding interest rate prospects buoyed early trading on Wall Street, but this faded as traders seemed to have already factored in a potential rate cut in September.
The sell-off was driven by profit-taking, with significant pullbacks in leading tech stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA), a major player in AI technology.
Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve is still expected to lower rates in September, bolstered by a recent Labor Department report indicating an unexpected slight decrease in U.S. prices in June.
Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, supported by hopes for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve following encouraging inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.52 at $82.62 per barrel.
