The South Korea stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, advancing more than 30 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,310-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside thanks to a bump is crude oil prices and optimism ahead of quarterly earnings. The European and U.S. markets were up om Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index climbed 25.84 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 2,310.90 after trading between 2,293.07 and 2,313.80. Volume was 287 million shares worth 6.4 trillion won. There were 573 gainers and 256 decliners.
Among the actives, Samsung Electronics jumped 2.20 percent, while LG Electronics surged 3.19 percent, LG Display added 0.26 percent, SK hynix spiked 3.74 percent, Hana Financial gained 3.66 percent, KB Financial soared 4.54 percent, Woori Bank collected 2.73 percent, Shinhan Financial climbed 2.61 percent, POSCO gathered 1.77 percent, Hyundai Steel advanced 1.87 percent, Hyundai Engineering gathered 2.63 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.41 percent, Kia Motors picked up 0.32 percent, Naver skidded 1.41 percent and SK Telecom perked 1.26 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Friday, although the NASDAQ hit a fresh record high and the S&P 500 reached its best closing level in five months.
The Dow rose 94.52 points or 0.38 percent to 25,019.41, the NASDAQ added 2.06 points or 0.03 percent to 7,825.98 and the S&P 500 gained 3.02 points or 0.11 percent to 2,801.31. For the week, the Dow surged 2.3 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 1.8 percent and the S&P climbed 1.5 percent.
The choppy trading came as traders hesitated to make significant moves following the considerable volatility of the past few sessions. Traders also digested mixed quarterly results from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
In economic news, the Federal Reserve delivered its semi-annual monetary policy to Congress, calling economic growth in the first half of the year solid and reiterating it expects further increases in interest rates.
The University of Michigan noted a decrease in consumer sentiment in July due to concerns about potential impact of tariffs. The Labor Department note a drop in import prices in June but a slightly bigger than expected increase in export prices.
Energy stocks saw some strength amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, while weakness was visible in the telecom and banking sectors.
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