Seoul shares likely to further rise next week

Published : Sept 8, 2012 - 11:33 Updated : Sept 8, 2012 - 11:33

South Korean stocks are expected to move higher next week on growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will roll out additional credit easing measures, analysts said Saturday.
The country's key stock index, the KOSPI, gained 0.7 percent this week to close at 1,929.58 on Friday. On Friday alone, the index rallied 2.57 percent as investors cheered the bond-buying program of the European Central Bank (ECB) amid a recent lack of upward momentum.
"Next week is packed with a series of events, including the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Investors are expecting the Fed to take a more concrete step toward a third bout of quantitative easing," said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities.
The analyst said the Bank of Korea is also expected to cut its key policy rate at a rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday, which would lend a boost to the local stock market.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks rose on Friday on hopes that a dismal jobs report will prod the Federal Reserve to map out new stimulus measures next week.
About 96,000 new jobs were created in the U.S. in August, much smaller than the market estimate of 125,000, according to the data offered by the U.S. government.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.64 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 13,306.64, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.61 points, or 0.02 percent, to 3,136.42.

(Yonhap News)