KOSPI Due For Profit Taking On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 3,200-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns about the health of the American economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are also expected to open to the downside.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher again on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and chemical companies.

For the day, the index rose 4.29 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 3,205.12 after trading between 3,196.19 and 3,214.64. Volume was 302.4 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won. There were 449 gainers and 403 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.16 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.09 percent, Hana Financial shed 0.49 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.86 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.48 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.54 percent, SK Hynix rallied 3.01 percent, Naver advanced 0.88 percent, LG Chem sank 0.66 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.63 percent, SK Innovation slumped 0.94 percent, POSCO Holdings tanked 2.64 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.18 percent, KEPCO stumbled 2.00 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 0.78 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.68 percent and Kia Motors fell 0.37 percent.

The lead from the Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly headed south and spent the balance of the day in the red.

The Dow stumbled 220.44 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,400.86, while the NASDAQ fell 7.31 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,700.39 and the S&P 500 sank 20.58 points or 0.32 percent to end at 6,481.50. For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.1 percent, the S&P rose 0.3 percent and the Dow dipped 0.3 percent.

The early downturn on Wall Street came as traders digested a closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected U.S. job growth in the month of August.

Traders initially reacted positively to the report amid optimism the data will convince the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates later this month. But buying interest quickly waned amid concerns about the outlook for the economy.

Crude oil moved sharply lower on Friday as oversupply concerns grew stronger ahead of OPEC's Sunday meeting, where the group did as expected and boosted output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery dropped $1.64 or 2.58 percent to $61.84 per barrel.