South Korean stocks are expected to mirror economic data and corporate earnings reports coming out of the United States this week and developments taking place in eurozone countries, local analysts said Saturday.

The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,974.65 on Friday, down 1.71 percent from a week earlier, mainly due to weaker than expected U.S. consumer sentiment and sluggish first quarter growth in China, South Korea’s largest export market.

Uncertainties brought on by Spain’s debt concerns, which affected other eurozone countries, also weighed down the Seoul bourse. The KOSPI was only able to stay above the psychologically important 2,000-point mark for one trading session last week.

Analysts said that the U.S. market is providing mixed signals in employment, consumption, housing and industrial production that is affecting the KOSPI. The local index tends to follow developments on Wall Street.

They predicted that this week’s bourse will have no clear upward or downward momentum with the index to move in the upper 1,990s and lower 2,000 range.

“The KOSPI may be able to move up modestly this week, compared to overall weakening this week, but any gains are likely to be limited,” said Lee Seung-ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

Besides the U.S. market, economic indicators from China and how the European Union handles Spain’s debt woes will influence stock prices, watchers said. (Yonhap News)