The South Korean stock market experienced another downturn on Friday, reversing the previous day's brief recovery from a two-day decline which saw a decrease of over 30 points or 1.2 percent. At present, the KOSPI index remains slightly above the 2,450 mark, but indications suggest it may recoup some of these losses as the week begins.
The outlook for Asian markets is optimistic, driven by anticipated bargain hunting following last week's significant sell-off. With European and U.S. markets rising on Friday, Asian exchanges are expected to follow this positive trend.
The KOSPI concluded Friday with a notable downturn, marking significant losses across various sectors, particularly chemicals, industrials, and financials.
On Friday, the index sank by 48.76 points or 1.95 percent, closing at 2,455.91. The volume of trades weighed in at 377.33 million shares, valued at 8.91 trillion won. In terms of market breadth, losses dominated with 723 decliners compared to 170 gainers.
Among the most active stocks, Shinhan Financial fell 0.93 percent, KB Financial dropped 1.84 percent, and Hana Financial declined 2.35 percent. Samsung Electronics decreased by 2.34 percent, Samsung SDI plummeted 3.48 percent, and LG Electronics slumped 2.39 percent. SK Hynix slipped 0.74 percent, while Naver bucked the trend, advancing by 0.98 percent. LG Chem and Lotte Chemical saw significant drops of 6.89 percent and 7.06 percent, respectively. SK Innovation fell 3.20 percent, POSCO decreased 4.40 percent, SK Telecom saw a modest decline of 0.16 percent, KEPCO slid 1.44 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 2.44 percent, Hyundai Motor dipped 0.23 percent, and Kia Motors tumbled 2.21 percent.
The momentum from Wall Street was encouraging as the major indexes rebounded from Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, opening with gains on Friday and continuing to climb, closing near the session’s peak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 188.59 points or 0.42 percent to 44,910.65. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ climbed 157.69 points or 0.83 percent to 19,218.17, and the S&P 500 rose by 33.64 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,032.38.
For the week shortened by the holiday, both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 surged 1.1 percent, with the Dow gaining a more robust 1.4 percent.
Wall Street's strength was fueled by investors seeking to capitalize on lower stock prices following Wednesday's dip. Semiconductor stocks spurred the recovery, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advancing by 1.5 percent, after experiencing its lowest intraday level in over two months in the prior session.
Crude oil futures closed lower on Friday due to OPEC's decision to defer its meeting to December 5, amid expectations of postponed production hikes. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for January declined by $0.72 or 1.1 percent, settling at $68.00 per barrel. On the week, WTI crude futures fell by 4.5 percent.
