The South Korea stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, shedding almost 40 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,590-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday,
The global forecast for the Asian market is upbeat on generally upbeat earnings news. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to also move higher.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower again on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and automobile producers and mixed performances from the financials and chemicals.
For the day, the index shed 15.48 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 2,593.82 after trading between 2,587.96 and 2,618.32. Volume was 259.1 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won. There were 589 decliners and 267 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.53 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.75 percent, Hana Financial dipped 0.15 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.84 percent, Samsung SDI slumped 1.20 percent, LG Electronics slid 0.31 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 4.44 percent, Naver climbed 1.03 percent, LG Chem sank 0.90 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.01 percent, POSCO improved 0.73 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.81 percent, KEPCO spiked 1.94 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.03 percent, Hyundai Motor fell 0.42 percent, Kia Motors eased 0.11 percent and SK Innovation was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but moved steadily higher as the day progressed, ending near session highs.
The Dow added 36.86 points or 0.09 percent to finish at a fresh record of 43,275.91, while the NASDAQ climbed 115.94 points or 0.63 percent to end at 18,489.55 and the S&P 500 rose 23.20 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,864.67. For the week, the Dow added 1.0 percent, the S&P gained 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.8 percent.
The NASDAQ benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Netflix (NFLX), as the streaming giant soared by 11.1 percent to a record closing high after the company reported Q3 results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Meanwhile, a steep drop by shares of American Express (AXP) limited the upside for the Dow, with the credit card giant tumbling by 3.2 percent after the company reported Q3 earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a modest pullback by housing starts and building permits in September.
Oil prices fell on Friday following downward revisions in oil demand forecast from OPEC and the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November sank $1.45 or 2.05 percent at $69.22 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell more than 8 percent in the week.