Rally May Stall For Tech-Heavy KOSPI

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market picked up just a single point on Thursday - but that was enough to extend its winning streak to four sessions, gathering more than 25 points or 1.2 percent in that span. The KOSPI remains just above the 2,105-point plateau, although the market may run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher, as weakness among the tech stocks may offset a bump in crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher, and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and financial shares, while the industrials weighed.

For the day, the index added 1.02 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 2,107.63 after trading between 2,103.11 and 2,108.99.

Among the actives, Korea Electric Power added 0.35 percent, while Naver climbed 1.38 percent, S-Oil tumbled 1.40 percent, POSCO dipped 0.51 percent, LG Electronics advanced 0.32 percent, Shinhan Financial collected 0.11 percent, Woori Bank fell 0.37 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.31 percent and Hyundai Motor skidded 2.34 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as stocks were mixed and little changed again on Thursday, although the Dow managed to hit another fresh record closing high.

The Dow rose 34.72 points or 0.2 percent to 20,810.32 and the S&P added 0.99 points or 0.1 percent to 2,363.81, while the NASDAQ fell 25.12 points or 0.4 percent to 5,835.51.

In economic news, the Labor Department reported a modest increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended February 18.

Oil futures rose Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Agency reported a smaller than expected build in domestic crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery rose 86 cents or 1.6 percent to $54.45 a barrel.