Stock Market Today: The Seoul Stock Exchange closed in red
The Seoul Stock Exchange closed today with a 0.19% drop in its main indicator. The selective South Korean Kospi lost 5.86 points on Friday to stand at 3,156.42 units. Meanwhile, the Kosdaq technology stock index dropped by 0.57%, or 5.5 points, to close at 965.63 units.
The benchmark started the day higher, especially thanks to the advance of the Nasdaq on Wall Street.
However, the direction of the session changed when the Kospi began to approach 3,200 units. Besides, foreign and institutional investors became net sellers again due to the need to capture profits.
Local analysts also pointed out that the South Korean market seems to lack clear direction these days. It results from the doubts raised by the rise in inflation in the US and Europe and the possibility that central banks will begin to withdraw stimulus.
Samsung Electronics advanced by 0.75% today.
In turn, Naver, the operator of the largest South Korean internet portal, improved by 2.56%. Besides, Kakao, the country’s main instant messaging application operator, increased its value by 3.08%.
However, in the biopharmaceutical sector, Samsung Biologics sank by 3.37%, and its competitor, Celltrion, depreciated by 0.56%.
Wall Street closed in green, encouraged by labor data
Wall Street closed this Thursday in green after several days of losses. The Dow Jones, its main indicator, increased by 0.55%, encouraged by labor data, consistent with the economic recovery in the US.
At the close of the New York Stock Exchange session, the Dow Jones advanced by 188.11 points to 34,084.15. The selective S&P 500 rose 1.06% or 43.44 points to 4,159.12.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, listing the leading technology companies, gained a remarkable 1.77% or 236.00 points, to 13,535.74.
Tech sectors led the rise
The New York stock market rebounded, driven primarily by the technology sector. It gained 1.87% thanks to large firms. Netflix advanced by 2.86%, Apple expanded by 2.10%, and Microsoft rose by 1.38%.
Investors reacted by betting on purchases to a weekly decline in the number of applications for unemployment benefits to 444,000, the lowest since the pandemic began.
Fears about the rise in inflation seemed to take a backseat, as did concerns about the cryptocurrency market, which suffered sharp cuts yesterday.
But bitcoin, which has rebounded to $40,000 today, briefly suffered after the Treasury Department announced increased fiscal oversight on transactions over $10,000.
Among the 30 which are on the Dow Jones, in addition to technology companies, Boeing hiked up by 1.44%. On the other hand, Amgen gained 1.33%, Disney surged by 1.23%, and Travelers expanded by 1.15%.
Cisco, which had fallen in the morning in reaction to a worse-than-expected future outlook, ended up gaining 0.72%.
Virgin Galactic soared by 14.7% after announcing that its next flight test into space will be this Saturday.
Stock futures are higher following the previous day rebound
Stock futures were moderately higher in early morning trading. It followed major averages rebound from a three-day losing streak.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 71 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures traded in somewhat positive territory.
The Nikkei rises driven by Wall Street and the approval of vaccines
The main index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei, rose 0.78% this Friday after easing concerns about the rise in US bond yields and about approval of the use of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines in Japan.
The Nikkei, grouping the 225 most prominent, publicly owned companies in the market, advanced by 219.58 points.
The Topix, which includes the companies in the first section, those with the highest capitalization, added 0.46% or 8.77 points to stand at 1,904.69 units.
The Tokyo stock market opened higher, driven by the rise in the technology sector, which followed the trend on Wall Street after favorable unemployment data and a lessening concern about rising US government bond yields.
Besides, the use of the coronavirus vaccines by Moderna and AstraZeneca were approved well by Japan. This way, the number of available injections rose to three, together with Pfizer, which is expected to accelerate its slow vaccination campaign.
Recruit posted a 3.85% increase
The precision instruments sector reaped the most significant gains from the session, along with services and information, and communication.
Human resources company Recruit posted a 3.85% increase, the biggest rise among Nikkei-listed firms. It was followed by the digital advertising company CyberAgent gaining 3.64% and the printing company Toppan Printing which advanced by 3.21%.
The Softbank group brought together the highest volume of operations of the day, and its shares were appreciated by 0.05%. It was followed by Nintendo, the developer and distributor of video games, which added 3.25%). Besides, Fast Retailing, the textile firm, owner of the chain of clothing stores Uniqlo, expanded by 1.08%.
In the first section, 1,076 companies advanced compared to 1,009 that dropped, while 107 closed unchanged.
The trading volume amounted to 1.83 trillion yen (16.88 billion dollars).
Europe seeks to reaffirm the strength at the weekly closing
The continental stock markets seek to end a week positively in which they have intensified the dynamics of ups and downs seen in recent days in the trading floors of Europe. Throughout the last sessions, the EuroStoxx 50 has gone from testing the support of 3,900 points to being ready to find support again at the 4,040 points.
Analysts believe that the EuroStoxx 50 could end up signing its fifth cons. As long as the EuroStoxx 50 remains within this price range, equality will be maintained in the debate involving bulls and bears, specifically between those who buy looking for higher increases and those who sell to avoid the possibility of seeing a correction.
