(RTTNews) - Despite a bout of profit taking in some technology, oil and bank stocks, the South Korean market is trading in positive territory on Friday with a strong overnight rally on Wall Street and impressive results from Hynix Semiconductor aiding sentiment to a marked extent.

The benchmark KOSPI index, which drifted down to around 1,633 after an early surge to 1,644, is currently up 9.7 points, or 0.59%, at 1,640.

Ending seven successive quarters of losses, memory chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor earned 246.28 billion won ($207.25 million) in the three months ended September 30. It posted a net loss of 1.67 trillion won a year earlier. Higher prices for memory chips helped end multiple quarters of red ink. The stock, after trading about 1.5% up, has shed gains subsequently and is currently trading up by about 0.5%.

Among other stocks in the tech space, heavyweight Samsung Electronics is gaining 1% and LG Electronics is trading with a modest gain, while LG Display LCD is down with a 1.5% loss.

Automobile stock Kia Motor is up nearly 4% on expectations of strong results. Hyundai Motor is gaining about 4.5%, while Ssangyong Motor is down in negative territory with a 3% loss.

Among bank stocks, Korea Exchange Bank and Woori Finance are trading higher by 1.2% and 1% respectively, while Shinhan Financial and KB Financial are down with modest losses.

In the shipping space, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries are up modestly, while STX Pan Ocean and Daewoo Shipbuilding are trading higher by 1.3% and 1% respectively.

Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are stronger by 2% and 1% respectively. Energy, airlines and telecom stocks are exhibiting some weakness.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore are up with strong gains. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan are also trading firm. Markets in the region had ended moderately lower on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Thursday as earnings optimism eclipsed disappointing news on the downtrodden labor market. The major averages all closed firmly on the upside after seeing a largely lackluster performance for much of the session.

The Dow closed up 132 points, or 1.3%, at 10,081.3, the Nasdaq advanced by 14.6 points, or 0.7%, to 2,165.3 and the S&P 500 moved up 11.5 points, or 1.1%, to 1,092.9.

Major European markets closed considerably lower on Thursday. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slipped by about 1%, while the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index ended lower by 1.2% and 1.4% respectively.

Crude oil finished slightly lower on Thursday but pared most of its daily losses. Light sweet crude for December delivery finished at US$81.84 per barrel, down 12 cents on the session. Prices had hit a low of US$79.84 earlier in the morning on disappointing employment report.

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