On Thursday, the South Korean stock market put an end to a two-day decline, during which it had dropped over 25 points or 1 percent. The KOSPI is now positioned just above the 2,560 mark and looks set to gain momentum as Friday approaches.
The outlook for global markets appears optimistic following the Federal Reserve's decision to reduce its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points. Both European and U.S. markets mostly trended upward, and it's anticipated that Asian markets will mirror this positive movement.
On Thursday, the KOSPI saw a marginal increase, registering a mixed performance across financial shares, technology stocks, and industrials. Specifically, the index rose by 1.12 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 2,564.63, with a trading volume of 447 million shares valued at 10.6 trillion won. The market witnessed 512 decliners against 352 gainers.
In terms of individual stocks, Shinhan Financial increased by 1.79 percent, KB Financial edged up 0.11 percent, while Hana Financial dropped 1.13 percent. Amid technology stocks, Samsung Electronics grew by 0.35 percent, despite Samsung SDI plummeting 3.52 percent. LG Electronics saw a modest rise of 0.22 percent, with SK Hynix climbing 0.82 percent, and Naver experiencing a significant boost of 1.93 percent. Conversely, LG Chem fell 0.49 percent and Lotte Chemical retreated 1.49 percent. SK Innovation saw a significant decline of 4.51 percent, whereas POSCO gained 1.71 percent. Meanwhile, SK Telecom added 0.35 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.87 percent, Hyundai Mobis slid 1.24 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.48 percent, and Kia Motors decreased by 1.05 percent.
Wall Street's sentiment remained positive as major indices opened mixed on Thursday but largely closed on an upward trend, with the NASDAQ and S&P both achieving new record closing highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down slightly by 0.59 points, essentially remaining flat at 43,729.34. In contrast, the NASDAQ jumped 285.99 points or 1.51 percent to settle at 19,269.46, while the S&P 500 rose 44.06 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 5,973.10.
The persisting vigor on Wall Street is attributed to ongoing optimism about the expected corporate benefits from former President Donald Trump's re-entrance to the White House.
Furthermore, stock markets sustained their strength following the Federal Reserve's announcement of its anticipated quarter-point interest rate reduction.
Meanwhile, oil futures closed significantly higher on Thursday. Traders balanced the potential geopolitical implications of Donald Trump's presidency with the Federal Reserve's rate cut announcement. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December increased by $0.67 or 0.93 percent, closing at $72.36 a barrel.
