Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered an optimistic assessment of the world's largest economy, which has raised the possibility of speedier rate hikes in 2018.

   He said his personal position on the prospects for the economy has strengthened since December when asked whether his outlook for how quickly the Fed should tighten monetary policy had changed.

   "South Korean shares are expected to move up and down in a relatively tight range next week as there is uncertainty over US monetary policy," Park Chun-young, an analyst at Daishin Securities Co., said.

   Kim Byung-yeon, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co., also said uncertainty over the pace of rate increases in the United States is a key factor that could weigh on the KOSPI index next week. He said the main stock index is likely to trade at between 2,420 and 2,480 points in the coming week.

   Kim said investors' cautiousness on account of the monetary policies of advanced countries is likely to persist next week as the US is set to release employment data and the Fed's latest report on regional economies, which is called the Beige Book. (Yonhap)