FX.co ★ KOSPI May Give Up Support At 2,400 Points

The South Korean stock market has experienced a decline for three consecutive sessions, losing nearly 40 points or 1.7%. The KOSPI currently hovers just above the 2,400-point mark and may face further decline as trading resumes on Monday.

The outlook for Asian markets this week, amidst the holiday season, is mixed to negative, with technology stocks expected to be a significant factor in the decline. While European markets saw gains, U.S. markets fell, and Asian markets are anticipated to align more closely with the latter.

The KOSPI ended significantly down on Friday, impacted by weak performances in financial stocks, chemical firms, and automotive manufacturers, whereas technology stocks displayed mixed results.

Friday's session saw the index fall by 24.09 points, or 1.02%, closing at 2,404.77, with a trading range of 2,411.10 to 2,388.33. Volume reached 302 million shares, valued at 6.19 trillion won, with 803 stocks declining and 115 gaining.

Among the more active stocks: Shinhan Financial fell 1.12%, KB Financial declined 0.58%, Hana Financial was down 1.20%, while Samsung Electronics edged up 0.19%. LG Electronics saw a 1.40% retreat, SK Hynix surged 2.59%, Naver dropped 1.10%, LG Chem slipped 0.40%, Lotte Chemical decreased 0.82%, SK Innovation dropped 1.33%, POSCO Holdings was down 0.98%, while SK Telecom saw a 0.71% decline. Meanwhile, KEPCO fell 1.96%, Hyundai Mobis declined 2.27%, Hyundai Motor slid 1.15%, Kia Motors dropped 1.94%, and Samsung SDI remained unchanged.

Negative sentiment prevailed on Wall Street, with major indices opening lower and staying that way through the session, closing near their lows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 333.59 points, or 0.77%, settling at 42,992.21. The NASDAQ Composite dropped 298.37 points, or 1.49%, to close at 19,722.03, while the S&P 500 lost 66.75 points, or 1.11%, to finish at 5,970.84.

Over the week, the Dow advanced by 1.4%, and both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 rose by 1.5%.

Market activity may have been distorted by low trading volumes, as many investors took holidays between Christmas and New Year’s.

Looking at economic data, U.S. retail inventories, excluding autos, rose 0.6% in November compared to October, based on preliminary estimates, building on a revised 0.3% increase from the previous month.

Oil prices increased on Friday following evidence of a substantial drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, supported further by ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $70.60 per barrel, marking a rise of about 1.4%.

Domestically, South Korea is set to release November figures for industrial production and retail sales later today. Industrial output is projected to decline by 0.4% month-on-month but to rise by 0.4% year-on-year, following an unchanged figure from the previous month and a 6.3% increase in October. October's retail sales were down 0.4% month-on-month.