In recent sessions, the South Korean stock market has seen a steady increase, rising by nearly 10 points or 0.4 percent. The KOSPI market now sits just below the 2,480-point level and is expected to maintain this range come Monday.
The global forecast for Asian markets is uncertain ahead of the announcement of earnings news and an impending FOMC rate decision and statement later this week. European markets demonstrated an upward trend while the U.S. markets showed mixed results; it is speculated that the Asian markets will follow this latter trend.
On Friday, the KOSPI ended on a modest high as gains observed from financials and energy companies were offset by a slump in technology stocks and industrials.
For the day, the index rose by 8.22 points or 0.33 percent to close at 2,478.56. The volume traded was 285.54 million shares amounting to 7 trillion won, with 549 gainers and 312 decliners.
Active stocks included Shinhan Financial, which gained 0.38 percent, KB Financial, which jumped 1.70 percent and Samsung Electronics, which dipped 0.94 percent. LG Electronics declined by 0.53 percent while Hyundai Motor fell 0.74 percent. On the other hand, stocks like Naver, which rallied 1.41 percent, and S-Oil, which strengthened 1.49 percent, made noticeable gains.
Wall Street guidance is unclear as the major averages displayed a mixed performance on Friday, opening at a low, surging midday, before plummeting later on to end with minor changes.
The Dow slightly increased by 60.33 points or 0.16 percent to close at 38,109.43. In contrast, the NASDAQ decreased by 55.14 points or 0.36 percent to settle at 15,455.36, and the S&P 500 fell by 3.19 points or 0.07 percent to conclude at 4,890.97. Over the week, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, and the Dow made gains of 1.1 percent, 0.9 percent, and 0.7 percent respectively.
Fluctuating trading on Wall Street stemmed from traders balancing the disheartening earnings news from the semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) against the lesser than anticipated consumer price inflation data.
The Commerce Department released a report detailing a more substantial than expected slowdown in the rate of core consumer price growth in December. The impending Fed's policy announcement is speculated to have kept traders from making significant moves, with most expecting the interest rates to remain unchanged. The keen interest would be in any indications about the timing of predicted rate cuts.
Crude oil futures saw an increase on Friday, implying optimism about oil demand due to encouraging U.S. economic data and fresh stimulus from China's central bank. The West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose by $0.65 or 0.84 percent, ending at $78.01 a barrel. For the week, WTI crude futures soared by 6 percent.
