South Korea May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 150 points or 4 percent in that span. The KOSPI sits just above the 4,100-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat amid optimism about an end to the record-setting U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology stocks and chemical companies, while the financials and automobile producers were mixed.

For the day, the index added 33.15 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 4,106.39 after peaking at 4,187.46. Volume was 375.15 million shares worth 19.93 trillion won. There were 540 decliners and 339 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skidded 1.02 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.32 percent, Hana Financial stumbled 3.43 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.88 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 2.22 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.12 percent, SK Hynix jumped 2.15 percent, Naver improved 1.15 percent, LG Chem added 0.63 percent, Lotte Chemical perked 0.14 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.25 percent, POSCO Holdings eased 0.16 percent, SK Telecom gained 0.56 percent, KEPCO skyrocketed 7.14 percent, Hyundai Mobis sank 0.67 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.55 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 2.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is incongruous as the major averages opened mixed and ultimately finished the same way.

The Dow jumped 559.33 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 47,927.96, while the NASDAQ slumped 58.87 points or 0.25 percent to close at 23,468.30 and the S&P 500 rose 14.18 points or 0.21 percent to end at 6,846.61.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets - especially the possibility of a tech bubble - following recent volatility.

However, valuation concerns continue to hang over the markets, as traders had largely shrugged off worries about the economic impact of the shutdown.

A sharp increase by the price of crude oil has also contributed to considerable strength among energy stocks, which are moving higher along with biotechnology and healthcare stocks.

On the other hand, semiconductor stocks have come under pressure, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.0 percent.