South Korea Stock Market May Extend Friday's Gains

The South Korea stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 90 points or 3.6 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,305-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on firm economic data from the United States. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index jumped 30.37 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 2,304.59 after trading between 2,280.97 and 2,329.34. Volume was 855 million shares worth 14 trillion won. There were 600 gainers and 237 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.65 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.82 percent, Hana Financial accelerated 1.98 percent, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.90 percent, LG Electronics surged 6.36 percent, SK Hynix spiked 3.76 percent, LG Chem soared 4.80 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.48 percent, S-Oil gained 0.69 percent, POSCO perked 2.05 percent, SK Telecom rallied 3.52 percent, KEPCO rose 0.25 percent, Hyundai Motors added 0.65 percent, Kia Motors gathered 1.24 percent and SK Innovation was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks spent most of Friday in the green, picking up steam as the day progressed.

The Dow jumped 190.60 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 27,930.33, while the NASDAQ added 46.85 points or 0.42 percent to end at 11,311.80 and the S&P 500 rose 11.65 points or 0.34 percent to close at 3,397.16. For the week, the Dow was flat, the NASDAQ soared 2.7 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came after IHS Markit said U.S. business activity expanded at the fastest pace in over a year in August. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in the U.S. continued to soar in July.

Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks. Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the sector higher, with the tech giant surging 5.2 percent to a new record closing high.

Oil prices tumbled on Friday as the latest Euro zone flash purchasing managers' index for August dented hopes of a V-shaped recovery from the bloc's deepest economic downturn on record. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 46 cents or 1.08 percent at $42.27.