Seoul shares expected to stay within tight range next week

South Korean shares are likely to remain within a tight range next week as US President Donald Trump's trade protectionist measures weigh on the local equity market, observers here said Saturday.
  
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,459.45 points on Friday, gaining 2.38 percent over the week.
  
Trump signed import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent for aluminum, but raised the likelihood of exempting allies from the high duties. 
 

Although Trump's softer-than-expected move on tariffs eased fears of a trade war, Park Jong-kook, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the tariffs would have a mid- and long-term negative impact on the Korean steel industry.
  
This week, Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May, in a surprise development that may ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
  
South Korean special envoys, who held a meeting with Kim in Pyongyang earlier this week, told Trump that the North Korean leader is open to denuclearization, indicating a possible change in North Korea's stance on the nuclear issue. (Yonhap)