The South Korean stock market outlook for the second quarter of this year is largely positive, with certain sectors set to benefit from an expected sign of momentum from the United States, analysts said.

In a report titled “Reasons for bullish 2Q12 outlook,” Woori Investment & Securities said that although some negative factors from the troubled eurozone might put pressure on the local bourse, it holds a “positive outlook” for the April-June period.

“Over the past month, KOSPI has remained at the low 2,000 level, and during the same period there have been no more signs of overheating, with market leaders expanding to include automakers in addition to Samsung Electronics,” said Clemens Kang, analyst at Woori.

Kang’s recommended approach is to track the benchmark KOPSI, which centers heavily upon IT and automotive sectors.

“Such a strategy would likely benefit from the expected rise in economic momentum in the U.S. from the second quarter of 2012,” Kang said.

Other sectors that deserve attention are materials, such as steel and chemicals, based on an economic turnaround scenario. Materials shares have suffered a setback in the past two months due to rising concerns that China might fail to pull off a soft landing for its economy and the U.S. might not opt for another round of quantitative easing.

But China’s retail sales are now expected to rebound in April, thanks partly to the country’s Qingming Festival. Woori projected earlier that China’s economy would hit bottom in the first quarter of this year.

One of the key negative factors is the possibility that credit risks from Spain and Portugal might re-emerge.

“It is unlikely that European-led credit risks will be allowed to escalate in the second quarter this year, and we believe efforts will be made to reduce the chances of Spain and Portugal requiring bailouts.”

In a separate report, Meritz Securities said that Korean IT and automotive shares would likely get a boost from the expected economy recovery in the U.S. in the second quarter.

“The leading economic indicators in OECD nations are in turnaround mode and the global economy is estimated to be going through a bottom (before a recovery,” it said.

Meritz said China’s first-quarter economic growth data, due to be released next week, will offer a guidance about whether the crucial trading partner has touched a bottom before staging a rebound.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldcorp.com)