[Good Morning Stock Market] Market on Hold Ahead of US Employment Report... Korean Stock Market Expected to See Rotation Trading

Major U.S. Indexes Close Flat Amid Focus on January Jobs Report
Nvidia Gains Over 3%, Tesla Falls Over 1%
Korean Market Expected to Remain Cautious, Rotation Trading Anticipated on Strong Q4 Earnings

The major U.S. stock markets closed near flat. Concerns and expectations regarding the employment report results were mixed, leading to a cautious stance. The domestic stock market also showed a prominent wait-and-see attitude, with differentiated movements expected across individual stocks.

On the 6th (local time), the S&P 500 index closed at 6,083.57, up 0.36% from the previous trading day. The Nasdaq index also ended the session at 19,791.99, up 0.51%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.28% to 44,747.63.

This is interpreted as a cautious stance ahead of the January employment report release. The number of new unemployment claims last week was 219,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week, exceeding market expectations. This can be interpreted as a sign of easing in the U.S. labor market, drawing investors' attention to the upcoming January employment report.

The Bank of England (BOE) also influenced the market by lowering its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) to 4.5%. Attention was focused on Amazon's earnings released after the market close, contributing to the cautious sentiment during the trading session.

Among individual stocks, Nvidia closed up 3.08%. News that the U.S. Congress is considering banning DeepSeek on government devices acted as a positive factor. Morgan Stanley also named Nvidia as a top pick, citing strong demand for its products such as Harper and Blackwell, which sustained the upward trend. Apple fell due to Qualcomm's concerns about slowing smartphone demand but reversed to close up 0.32%, supported by a weaker dollar and the prior reflection of negative factors. Tesla closed down 1.02%. Recent sharp declines in sales in Europe and news of planned strikes at Tesla facilities in Sweden acted as negative factors.

Meanwhile, the MSCI Korea Index Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), closely linked to the Korean stock market, rose 0.47%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was near flat, up 0.02%. The KOSPI night futures fell 0.07%. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,447.70 won, up 3.4 won from the previous day.

The domestic stock market is also expected to see rotation trading driven by strong performances of leading sectors amid a cautious stance. Ji-won Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "The domestic stock market rebounded with inflows from exchange rates and foreign investors, recovering to levels before the DeepSeek issue and U.S. universal tariff concerns," adding, "With attention shifting to tonight's U.S. employment report results, a cautious stance is prominent, and differentiated movements across individual stocks are expected."