Seoul bourse to trade weaker next week: analysts

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean stock market is expected to lose
ground next week as investors will likely take a breather from recent rallies
amid uncertainty in overseas markets, analysts said Saturday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,103.82 on
Friday, up 7.36 percent from the previous week.
Investor sentiment was buoyed by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to
make the biggest infrastructure investment since the 1950s and a steep rate cut
by the Bank of Korea (BOK), according to analysts. But the U.S. Senate's decision
to kill a bailout bill for the ailing "Big Three" automakers drove the KOSPI
downward on Friday.
On Thursday, the BOK cut the key interest rate by a record one percentage point
to an all-time low of 3 percent, the fourth rate cut in two months, in a bid to
bolster the sagging economy.
Analysts said the local stock market is widely expected to face a correction, as
it rose sharply during recent sessions despite lingering uncertainties over
global financial turmoil.
"The market is forecast to trade weaker next week due to short-term excessive
gains and worries over possibly dimmer earnings by U.S. financial firms," said
Kang Hyeon-chul, a market analyst at Woori Investment & Securities Co.
Experts say that, in the coming week, the local market will likely focus on a
possible rate reduction by the U.S. Federal Reserve and future developments
related to Detroit's Big Three.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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