KOSPI In Line For Another Fresh Record High

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the 11-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 300 points or 9.6 percent. Now at another fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 3,460-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the technology stocks, chemical companies and automobile producers, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 47.90 points or 1.40 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,461.30 after moving as low as 3,422.77. Volume was 386.81 million shares worth 12.09 trillion won. There were 589 gainers and 262 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skidded 1.00 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.76 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.67 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.94 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 1.90 percent, LG Electronics surged 5.52 percent, SK Hynix soared 5.85 percent, Naver strengthened 2.14 percent, LG Chem accelerated 3.08 percent, Lotte Chemical expanded 3.51 percent, SK Innovation added 0.38 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.35 percent, SK Telecom gained 0.54 percent, KEPCO lost 0.68 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 1.93 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.16 percent and Kia Motors advanced 1.09 percent.

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

The Dow climbed 124.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 46,142.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 209.40 points or 0.94 percent to end at 22,470.72 and the S&P 500 gained 31.61 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,631.96.

Technology stocks led the markets higher amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC), with the chipmaker skyrocketing by 22.8 percent to its best closing level in over a year.

The rally by Intel came after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected last week. Also, the Conference Board said its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than expected in August.

Crude oil fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.