Additional Support Predicted For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in three straight trading days, collecting almost 40 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,635-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of the FOMC rate decision later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the industrials and oil companies were capped by weakness from the technology shares and a mixed bag from the financial sector.

For the day, the index gained 7.93 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 2,636.46. Volume was 713.46 million shares worth 18.85 trillion won. There were 652 decliners and 239 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial sank 0.75 percent, while Hana Financial collected 0.13 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.57 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.83 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.53 percent, Naver dropped 0.99 percent, LG Chem rallied 1.68 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 0.61 percent, S-Oil jumped 1.66 percent, SK Innovation surged 4.58 percent, POSCO soared 2.49 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.21 percent, KEPCO slid 0.26 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.42 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.65 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 1.32 percent and Samsung SDI and KB Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday but moved generally higher as the day progressed and ended in the green.

The Dow added 26.83 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 35,438.07, while the NASDAQ climbed 85.69 points or 0.61 percent to close at 14,144.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.82 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,567.46.

The higher close on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies such as 3M (MMM), chemical giant Dow Inc. (DOW) and General Electric (GE).

Traders also remain optimistic about the Federal Reserve wrapping up its recent series of interest rate hikes ahead of today's monetary policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders are hopeful the rate hike will be the last following recent encouraging inflation data.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected in July.

Crude oil futures settled notably higher Tuesday on optimism about increased Chinese demand after policymakers pledged support to shore up growth in the world's second largest economy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September gained $0.89 or 1.1 percent at $79.63 a barrel, the highest settlement since mid-April.