The South Korean stock market has finished higher now in two straight sessions, climbing almost 40 points or 1.9 percent in that span. The KOSPI finished just above the 2,100-point plateau, and now traders are anticipating continued upside at the opening of trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets remains broadly optimistic on solid economic data from the United States and more good news from Greece. Oil stocks should continue to rebound, while technology and telecom stocks also figure to provide support. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply higher, and now the Asian bourses are also expected to track higher.
The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Thursday, nudged into the green by gains from the financial companies and shipbuilders.
For the day, the index added 6.27 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 2,100.69 after trading between 2,091.09 and 2,105.47.
Among the gainers, Woori Investment & Securities added 1.8 percent, while Samsung Securities climbed 3.4 percent, Hana Financial Group collected 0.54 percent, Woori Finance Holdings jumped 1.1 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering spiked 1.1 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks turned in another strong performance on Thursday, extending recent gains. The markets continued to benefit from news out of Greece as well as upbeat Chicago-area manufacturing data.
After the crucial vote in favor of a package of austerity measures on Wednesday, traders continued to keep an eye on Greece, which took another step steps towards receiving additional financial assistance. The Greek parliament voted 155 to 136 to pass a second bill that enables the rapid implementation of the austerity plan, which includes billions of euros in spending cuts and tax increases.
The markets also benefited from the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management - Chicago showing that Chicago-area manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded at an accelerated pace in the month of June. The ISM - Chicago said its business barometer jumped to 61.1 in June from 56.6 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating an increase in activity. The increase surprised economists, who had expected a decline to 53.0.
The release of the relatively upbeat report on Chicago-area activity came after the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia released separate reports showing unexpected deteriorations in regional manufacturing activity.
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory, at their best closing levels in a month. The Dow jumped 152.92 points or 1.3 percent to 12,414.34, the NASDAQ surged up 33.03 points or 1.2 percent 2,773.52 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.23 points or 1 percent to 1,320.64.
In economic news, South Korea will on Friday provide June data for imports, exports, trade balance and inflation. Imports are expected to surge 32.0 percent on year following the 30.3 percent gain in May. Exports are called higher by 17.6 percent on year after collecting 22.4 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to reflect a surplus of $2.8 billion, up from $2.183 billion a month earlier. The inflation rate is expected to come in at 4.3 percent, up from 4.1 percent in May.
Also, South Korea's Finance Ministry on Thursday raised its inflation forecast for this year, while lowering the economic growth estimate. The government now expects inflation to be 4 percent this year, higher than the previously predicted 3 percent. Maintaining price stability will be the main goal of the government's policy in the second half of the year, the Ministry said in a statement.
In the first half, factors including bad weather as well as higher international oil prices pushed inflation higher, the government said. The Ministry now forecasts GDP to grow 4.5 percent compared to 5 percent predicted earlier.
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