Higher Open Called For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, giving away more than 15 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,520-point plateau although it may find support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, supported by the oil, finance and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets saw modest upside and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The KOSPI finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index eased 0.65 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,521.27 after trading between 2,499.18 and 2,527.33. Volume was 386.81 million shares worth 10.38 trillion won. There were 454 decliners and 414 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.30 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.28 percent, Hana Financial slumped 1.46 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.54 percent, Samsung SDI improved 0.72 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.63 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 2.41 percent, Naver advanced 0.89 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.81 percent, Lotte Chemical weakened 1.65 percent, SK Innovation dipped 0.26 percent, POSCO Holdings sank 0.84 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.36 percent, KEPCO was down 0.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis eased 0.20 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.55 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 1.97 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 167.01 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 44,470.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 190.87 points or 0.98 percent to close at 19,714.27 and the S&P 500 gained 40.45 points or 0.67 percent to end at 6,066.44.

The rebound on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting, as traders picked up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following Friday's sharp pullback.

While Friday's slump partly reflected new tariff threats from President Donald Trump, traders largely shrugged off his latest threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.

Amid a light day on the U.S. economic front, traders were also looking ahead to the release of several key events in the coming days, especially consumer and producer inflation reports and congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply shortage due to the latest sanctions by U.S. on Iran's crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled higher by $1.32 or about 1.85% at $72.32 a barrel.