(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 40 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,490-point plateau and it's got another weak lead for Monday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns for an economic slowdown and an increase in interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by gains from the financials and automobile producers.
For the day, the index shed 15.36 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 2,494.69 after trading between 2,492.69 and 2,510.72. Volume was 437 million shares worth 6.6 trillion won. There were 587 decliners and 263 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.56 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.20 percent, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics both dropped 0.98 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 0.96 percent, SK Hynix gained 0.73 percent, Naver sank 0.80 percent, LG Chem slumped 1.69 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.55 percent, S-Oil jumped 1.84 percent, SK Innovation plunged 2.85 percent, POSCO and SK Telecom both fell 0.39 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.23 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.66 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.15 percent, Kia Motors improved 0.65 percent and Hana Financial was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and remained deep in the red throughout the session.
The Dow tumbled 292.26 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 33.706.74, while the NASDAQ plummeted 260.08 points or 2.01 percent to close at 12,705.21 and the S&P 500 slumped 55.26 points or 1.29 percent to end at 4,228.48. For the week, the NASDAQ dove 2.6 percent, the S&P sank 1.2 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the major averages well off their June lows to their best levels in almost four months.
Traders may also have been moving money out of stocks ahead of this week's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Remarks by Federal Reserve officials at the annual symposium are likely to be in focus, as traders look for additional clues about the pace of future interest rate hikes.
Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday but posted a weekly loss due to concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a possible recession in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September rose $0.27 or 0.3 percent at $90.77 a barrel.
