Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 80 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just shy of the 3,200-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over earnings, with tech shares likely to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials and chemicals were capped by weakness from the technology shares.

For the day, the index perked 0.14 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 3,198.14. Volume was 319.8 million shares worth 10.7 trillion won. There were 644 gainers and 236 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.03 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.85 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.18 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.57 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 2.11 percent, LG Electronics improved 1.17 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 1.90 percent, Naver declined 1.51 percent, LG Chem strengthened 1.32 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.63 percent, SK Innovation rallied 2.35 percent, POSCO Holdings perked 0.17 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.35 percent, KEPCO skyrocketed 7.44 percent, Kia Motors gained 0.39 percent and Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Motor were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly turned higher and spent the balance of the session in the green.

The Dow improved 81.38 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 44,193.12, while the NASDAQ rallied 252.87 points or 1.21 percent to end at 21,169.42 and the S&P 500 gained 45.87 points or 0.73 percent to close at 6,345.06.

Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the markets higher following reports the company will announce plans to invest $100 billion to expand its U.S. operations and increase its total investment in the U.S. over the next four years to $600 billion.

Stocks also benefitted from strong earnings news from companies like McDonald's (MCD), which reported second quarter results that exceeded estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Shopify (SHOP) also beat the street.

On the other hand, Super Micro Computer (SMCI), social media platform Snap (SNAP) and Disney (DIS) reported mixed third quarter results.

Crude oil lost early gains on Wednesday as Russia faces a threat of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports after August 8 if it fails to end its attempt to annex Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.96 or 1.47 percent at $64.20 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see June numbers for current account later this morning; in May, the current account surplus was $10.14 billion.