(RTTNews) - The South Korean stock market is trading firm on Friday with the overnight rally on Wall Street on the back of encouraging economic reports lifting investor sentiment to a significant extent. Technology, steel and bank stocks are trading with notable gains.

The benchmark KOSPI index is up 17.8 points, or 1.2%, at 1,570. After opening at 1,577.7, the index had surged to 1,577.6 in early trades.

Among bank stocks, Woori Finance and KB Financial are trading higher by 2.3% and 3% respectively, while Shinhan Financial and Korea Exchange Bank are trading modestly higher.

In the tech space, Hynix Semiconductor is up 3% and heavyweight Samsung Electronics is gaining about 1%, while LG Display LCD and LG Electronics are trading with modest gains.

Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are trading stronger by 2.2% and 3.3% respectively. Oil stocks SK Holdings and S-Oil are up with notable gains, while KEPCO is trading flat.

In the shipping space, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and STX Pan Ocean are up 1.5%-2%, while Daewoo Shipbuilding is up 0.5% over its previous closing price.

Among automobile stocks, Kia Motor and Hyundai Motor are both trading higher by about 1%, while Ssangyong Motor is gaining over 9%. Airliners are trading firm, while telecom stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.

Among other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore are trading with sharp gains. Shanghai, New Zealand and Taiwan are also up in positive territory with notable gains. Stock markets in the region had ended mostly lower on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied sharply on Thursday with some upbeat figures on the labor market and quarterly productivity lifting investor sentiment significantly. The major averages all posted standout gains after ending each of the two previous sessions mixed, with the Dow climbing back above the 10,000 level.

The Dow closed stronger by 203.8 points, or 2.1%, at 10,006, the Nasdaq gained 49.8 points, or 2.4%, to end at 2,105.3 and the S&P 500 advanced by 20.1 points, or 1.9%, to 1,066.6.

Major European markets closed moderately higher on Thursday. The French CAC 40 index moved up 1.1%, while the German DAX index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7% and 0.4% respectively.

Crude oil fell for the first time in four sessions on Thursday amid demand worries. Light sweet crude for December delivery finished at US$79.62 per barrel, down 78 cents on the session.

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