On Friday, the South Korean stock market ended its two-day gain of nearly 100 points or 3.9%. Currently, the KOSPI rests just shy of the 2,750-point plateau where it could potentially plateau come Monday.
The global forecast for Asian markets is mixed, as technology stock strength and oil company weakness compete. As such, the European and U.S. markets' responses have varied and it is predicted that Asian markets will follow suit.
On Friday, the KOSPI saw a slight drop due to losses within the automobile and financial sectors, despite technology stocks performing inconsistently. The index fell 6.30 points or 0.23%, closing the session at 2,748.56. Over the course of the day, trading fluctuated between 2,738.75 and 2,763.06, culminating in a trade volume totalling 501.3 million shares worth 11.3 trillion won. The day saw 485 stocks gain value while 381 declined.
Among active stocks, Shinhan Financial saw a 0.59% decrease, KB Financial dropped 1.58%, while Hana Financial gained 0.16%. In the technology sector, Samsung Electronics fell 0.50%, Samsung SDI rose by 3.73% and LG Electronics advanced by 0.20%. Other significant changes included Hyundai Motor plunging by 3.37% and Kia Motors by 2.42%, while SK Telecom remained stable.
Wall Street's opening on Friday did little to clarify the situation, with the Dow and S&P 500 slipping while the NASDAQ closed slightly in the green. The Dow fell 0.77%, the NASDAQ gained a marginal 0.16% and the S&P 500 fell by 0.14%. For the week overall, the NASDAQ, S&P 500 and Dow rose by 2.9%, 2.3% and 2% respectively.
Although early trading was marred by losses due to profit-taking, selling pressure was subdued, with traders maintaining optimism following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last week. The first rate cut remains uncertain but the odds of a quarter-point rate cut in June are now at 66.5% according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
In the tech sphere, Nvidia, an AI specialist, boosted the tech-heavy NASDAQ by 3.1%, closing the day at a record high. On the other hand, oil prices fell on Friday due to a surge in the dollar and the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain higher interest rates. The West Texas Intermediate Crude for May ended at $80.63 a barrel, a decrease of $0.44.
