South Korea Bourse Tipped To Extend Winning Streak

The South Korea stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 90 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,340-point plateau and it's got another solid lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, thanks to support from technology stocks and decent economic data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks, automobile producers and oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index climbed 30.75 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 2,342.61 after trading between 2,322.64 and 2,352.48. Volume was 785 million shares worth 17.6 trillion won. There were 512 gainers and 337 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.33 percent, while KB Financial gathered 2.96 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.91 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.93 percent, LG Electronics fell 0.69 percent, SK Hynix added 0.50 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.49 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 4.68 percent, S-Oil advanced 1.15 percent, SK Innovation increased 2.83 percent, POSCO perked 3.61 percent, SK Telecom tumbled 2.86 percent, KEPCO gained 0.78 percent, Hyundai Motors skyrocketed 7.84 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 2.55 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks showed a lack of direction in Thursday's early trade before showing a strong move to the upside in the afternoon, sending the NASDAQ to another fresh record closing high.

The Dow added 185.46 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 27,386.98, while the NASDAQ jumped 109.67 points or 1.00 percent to end at 11,108.07 and the S&P 500 rose 21.39 points or 0.64 percent to close at 3,349.16.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected substantial gains by big-name tech companies like Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Netflix (NFLX) and Microsoft (MSFT).

Positive sentiment was generated by a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back more than expected last week. The Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on July's employment situation later today.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, as Democrats and Republicans continued to negotiate over a new coronavirus relief bill, with both sides suggesting an agreement will eventually be reached.

Crude oil futures snapped a four-day winning streak and ended lower on Thursday as traders weighed crude demand and supply levels amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell $0.24 or 0.6 percent at $41.95 a barrel.