Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, rallying more than 300 points or 5.2 percent on its way to a fresh record closing high. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,800-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump's global tariffs. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are also expected to open to the upside.

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

For the day, the index soared 131.28 points or 2.31 percent to finish at 5,803.53 after trading between 5,684.58 and 5,809.91. Volume was 1.73 billion shares worth 32.74 trillion won. There were 543 gainers and 340 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial vaulted 1.69 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.38 percent, Hana Financial soared 3.96 percent, Samsung Electronics perked 0.05 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.47 percent, LG Electronics jumped 2.06 percent, SK Hynix skyrocketed 6.15 percent, Naver added 0.59 percent, LG Chem improved 0.75 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 5.19 percent, SK Innovation rallied 7.59 percent, POSCO Holdings expanded 1.29 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.86 percent, KEPCO climbed 1.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.57 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.78 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.06 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly lower but quickly bounced to the upside and largely spent the balance of the session in the green, ending near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 230.77 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 49,625.97, while the NASDAQ rallied 203.37 points or 0.90 percent to end at 22,886.07 and the S&P 500 added 47.62 points or 0.69 percent to close at 6,909.51.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ shot up 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.1 percent and the Dow rose 0.3 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street came after the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs., delivering a major blow to the president's signature economic policy.

Early in the session, stocks moved lower after the Commerce Department said U.S. economic growth slowed much more than anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2025. Also, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected uptick in the annual rate of consumer price growth, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates on hold in the near future.

Crude oil prices were relatively lackluster on Friday after spiking to their highest levels in six months amid concerns about a potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery was up $0.05 or 0.1 percent at $66.45 a barrel.