KOSPI May See Profit Taking On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 110 points or 2.8 percent. Now at a record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 4,300-point plateau, although investors are likely to lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is uncertain amidst geopolitical concerns in South America. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the somewhat overbought Asian bourses are expected to open in mixed fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the technology stocks, while the chemical and financial shares were soft.

For the day, the index surged 95.46 points or 2.27 percent to finish at 4,309.63. Volume was 400.33 million shares worth 17.27 trillion won. There were 522 decliners and 371 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial fell 0.39 percent, while KB Financial skidded 1.12 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.74 percent, Samsung Electronics skyrocketed 7.17 percent, Samsung SDI cratered 2.60 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.41 percent, SK Hynix vaulted 3.99 percent, Naver jumped 1.86 percent, LG Chem stumbled 3.15 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 3.98 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.28 percent, POSCO Holdings tanked 2.46 percent, SK Telecom slid 0.37 percent, KEPCO contracted 1.48 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.07 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.67 percent and Kia Motors dropped 0.99 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages spent most of Friday's session hugging the line for much of the day before finishing mostly in the green.

The Dow climbed 319.09 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 48,382.39, while the NASDAQ dipped 6.37 points or 0.03 percent to close at 23,235.63 and the S&P 500 added12.97 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,858.47.

For the week, the NASDAQ dropped 1.5 percent, the S&P sank 1.0 percent and the Dow lost 0.7 percent.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as some traders remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.

Geopolitical concerns may weigh on sentiment after the U.S. carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela. That country's leader, President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, had been captured and flown out of Venezuela.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Friday ahead of Sunday's OPEC meeting, with West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery dipping $0.12 or 0.2 percent to $57.30. On Sunday, OPEC decided to keep output levels unchanged, as expected. For 2025, crude fell almost 20 percent.