KOSPI May Test Resistance At 8,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, rallying almost 340 points or 4.2 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 7,980-point plateau and it may extend its gains again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology stocks expected to pull the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index jumped 137.40 points or 1.75 percent to finish at 7,981.41 after trading between 7,842.72 and 7,991.04. Volume was 842.3 million shares worth 50.6 trillion won. There were 647 gainers and 220 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 1.68 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.63 percent, Hana Financial jumped 3.43 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 4.23 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.32 percent, LG Electronics skyrocketed 13.38 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.30 percent, Naver soared 5.71 percent, LG Chem strengthened 1.39 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 6.14 percent, SK Innovation tumbled 2.31 percent, POSCO Holdings vaulted 1.67 percent, SK Telecom tanked 2.93 percent, KEPCO surrendered 2.70 percent, Hyundai Mobis perked 0.15 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.28 percent and Kia Motors sank 0.78 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 370.26 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 50,063.46, while the NASDAQ rallied 232.88 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 26,635.22 and the S&P 500 gained 56.99 points or 0.77 percent to close at 7,501.24, also a record.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) helped lead the markets higher after the company reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) also surged on reports that the U.S. has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy the company's second-most powerful AI chip, the H200.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in April. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut amid a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $0.29 or 0.29 percent at $101.31 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see April figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In March, imports were up 16.7 percent on year and exports jumped an annual 48.0 percent for a trade surplus of $23.77 billion.