South Korea’s stock market is expected to continue its upward movement this week as investor worries over high energy prices may ease and outlooks for major economies could improve, analysts said Saturday.

Still, anxiety remains that the debt crisis in Greece might hurt investor sentiment significantly and reverse the market course, they noted.

The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, gained 2.89 percent, or 58.88 points, to close at 2,090.81 on Friday. The bourse got off to a weak start due to worries over sovereign debt in Greece and dimmed prospects of economic recovery in the United States.

The unfolding debt crisis in Greece is likely to remain the main focus this week. Experts are paying close attention to whether Greece’s parliament will pass the government’s austerity measures drafted in return for help from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

If the austerity measures are voted down, it could have a detrimental impact on global investor sentiment by raising anxiety over a possible default by Greece. But analysts here say that it is unlikely. 

“I am optimistic about the result given that there was no opposition from the ruling party in the vote of confidence held last week for the new Cabinet,” Choi Yong-ho, an analyst at Woori Investment and Securities Co., said.

Eased worries over energy prices will also likely serve as a boon to the market.

Recently, the International Energy Agency, a 28-member group of oil-importing countries, decided to unload about 60 million barrels of emergency oil reserves over the next month.

A fall in oil prices is expected to follow, prompting experts to forecast an easing in the mounting inflationary pressure for many countries as crude import costs could go down.

It could also help boost consumer sentiment in advanced nations, raising hopes for their economic recovery, they added.

(Yonhap News)