Higher Open Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 50 points or 1.4 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI rests just above the 3,655-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid rising tensions between the world's two largest economies. The European markets were mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday with gains across the board, especially among the financial, technology and industrial companies. For the day, the index surged 95.47 points or 2.68 percent to finish at 3,657.28 after trading between 3,577.06 and 3,659.91. Volume was 538.8 million shares worth 13.7 trillion won. There were 759 gainers and 127 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial expanded 3.95 percent, while KB Financial spiked 4.33 percent, Hana Financial collected 2.37 percent, Samsung Electronics soared 3.71 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.68 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.57 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.67 percent, Naver perked 0.19 percent, LG Chem sank 0.84 percent, Lotte Chemical strengthened 1.63 percent, SK Innovation added 0.87 percent, POSCO Holdings was up 0.18 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.93 percent, KEPCO surged 4.38 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.33 percent, Hyundai Motor increased 0.22 percent and Kia Motors gathered 1.27 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but slumped midday and finished mixed.

The Dow dipped 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 46,253.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 148.38 points or 0.66 percent to end at 22,670.08 and the S&P 500 added 26.75 points or 0.40 percent to close at 6,671.06.

The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat earnings news against concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and lingering worries about valuations.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said New York manufacturing activity has seen a significant turnaround in October. Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book said economic activity in the U.S. has shown little change since early September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.