SEOUL (Thomson Financial) - South Korean shares closed higher Friday, reversing early losses, with POSCO and Hyundai Heavy riding high on expectations that their strong earnings momentum will continue.
The earnings hopes gave the market a last-minute boost, but before that trading was erratic, amid caution ahead of the long Korean Thanksgiving holiday and after the market had gained nearly 4 percent in the past two sessions following the Federal Reserve's half percentage point rate cut Tuesday.
South Korean markets will be closed Sept 24-26.
Wall Street's pullback amid a fresh spike in oil prices also weighed on sentiment early in the session.
The KOSPI index closed up 10.29 points or 0.5 percent at 1,919.26, just off a high of 1,921.23. The low for the day was 1,902.11.
Volume traded reached 435 million shares worth 6.1 trillion won.
Gainers beat decliners 414 to 374, with 69 issues unchanged.
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