South Korea Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Liberation Day, the South Korea stock market had moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,225-point plateau although it m ay spin its wheels on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid a cloudy outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the chemicals and automobile producers were offset by weakness from the technology stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index rose added 1.29 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 3,225.66 after trading between 3,210.83 and 3,239.55. Volume was 435.7 million shares worth 9.91 trillion won. There were 497 decliners and 377 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dipped 0.43 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.22 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.17 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.42 percent, Samsung SDI perked 0.07 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.40 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.54 percent, Naver slipped 0.22 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.07 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.33 percent, SK Innovation rallied 2.54 percent, POSCO Holdings slumped 0.49 percent, SK Telecom added 0.36 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.77 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.84 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.69 percent and Kia Motors improved 0.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and stayed that way throughout the session, ending on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The Dow added 34.82 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 44,946.12, while the NASDAQ sank 87.72 points or 0.40 percent to close at 21,622.98 and the S&P 500 fell 18.74 points or 0.29 percent to end at 6,449.80. For the week, the NASDAQ added 0.8 percent, the S&P gained 0.9 percent and the Dow jumped 1.7 percent.

The weakness in the broader markets followed the release of mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and interest rates.

While the Commerce Department said retail sales increased in line with estimates in July, the University of Michigan noted an unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment in August.

On the inflation front, year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.9 percent in August from 4.5 in July, while the Labor Department said import prices increased more than expected last month and the Federal Reserve saw a slight pullback by industrial production in July.

Crude oil traded lower on Friday ahead of the meeting between the presidents of the U.S. and Russia, which ultimately accomplished nothing. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.20 or 1.88 percent at $62.76 per barrel.