South Korea Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 5 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,480-point plateau although it figures to run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over growth and on the U.S. debt ceiling. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished barely higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financials, chemicals and technology stocks, while the automobile producers were soft.

For the day, the index perked 0.89 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 2,480.24 after trading between 2,474.90 and 2,498.54. Volume was 617 million shares worth 7.96 trillion won. There were 564 decliners and 302 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.58 percent, while KB Financial climbed 1.02 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.73 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.40 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.90 percent, SK Hynix surged 4.63 percent, Naver tumbled 2.12 percent, LG Chem gained 0.58 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.34 percent, S-Oil rose 0.28 percent, SK Innovation added 0.57 percent, POSCO improved 0.68 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.59 percent, KEPCO tanked 3.11 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 2.00 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 2.64 percent and Kia Motors plummeted 3.00 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday. The NASDAQ spent some time in positive territory but they all finished solidly in the red.

The Dow plunged 336.46 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 33,012.14, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.16 points or 0.18 percent to end at 12,345.05 and the S&P 500 sank 26.38 points or 0.64 percent to close at 4,109.90.

The steep drop by the Dow was partly due to a decrease by shares of Home Depot (HD), with the home improvement retailer falling by 2.2 percent after it reported weaker than expected first quarter revenues and lowered its full-year guidance.

Ongoing concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling also generated some negative sentiment as President Joe Biden meets with top congressional leaders with no resolution.

Traders were also reacting to a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, including separate reports showing weaker than expected retail sales growth and an unexpected increase in industrial output.

Oil prices drifted lower Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following disappointing Chinese data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.25 or 0.4 percent at $70.86 a barrel.