KOSPI May See Profit Taking On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, collecting more than 80 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,250-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance, with support from oil and technology stocks likely to be offset by weakness from the property and transportation companies. 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 again on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers. For the day, the index gained 23.90 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 3,252.47 after trading between 3,227.28 and 3,269.40. Volume was 335.65 million shares worth 12.88 trillion won. There were 474 gainers and 406 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.15 percent, while KB Financial climbed 1.35 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.83 percent, Samsung SDI surged 4.66 percent, LG Electronics strengthened 1.68 percent, SK Hynix rose 0.38 percent, Naver added 0.43 percent, LG Chem retreated 1.53 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 3.98 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 5.11 percent, POSCO Holdings slumped 1.11 percent, SK Telecom improved 1.63 percent, KEPCO tumbled 2.02 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 3.03 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.29 percent, Kia Motors soared 4.45 percent and Hana Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line until the FOMC statement, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow dropped 171.71 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 44,461.28, while the NASDAQ rose 31.38 points or 0.15 percent to close at 21,129.67 and the S&P 500 fell 7.96 points or 0.12 percent to end at 6,362.90.

The mixed closed by the major averages came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged in a divided vote.

The decision to leave rates unchanged was not unanimous as Fed Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller preferred to lower rates by a quarter percentage point.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased more than expected in July. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy rebounded by more than expected in the second quarter of 2025.

Crude oil inched higher on Wednesday on hopes the U.S. can avoid a trade war, while the grace period was cut for Russia to avoid sanctions on its energy trades from 50 to 10 days. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose $0.82 or 1.18 percent at $70.02 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release June data for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. In May, production was down 2.9 percent on month and up 0.2 percent on year, while sales were flat on month.