Additional Support Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 45 points or 1.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,640-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the technology and automobile companies were offset by weakness from the oil and financial stocks.

For the day, the index gained 8.60 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 2,637.95 after trading between 2,633.52 and 2,645.62. Volume was 674.4 million shares worth 10.9 trillion won. There were 470 decliners and 385 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.57 percent, while KB Financial and POSCO both shed 0.51 percent, Hana Financial retreated 1.68 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.41 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.27 percent, LG Electronics slumped 0.96 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.09 percent, Naver was up 0.25 percent, LG Chem declined 1.34 percent, Lotte Chemical eased 0.17 percent, S-Oil plunged 2.54 percent, SK Innovation dropped 0.70 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.61 percent, KEPCO perked 0.05 percent, Hyundai Mobis added 0.45 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 0.92 percent and Kia Motors advanced 0.86 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 145.79 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 34,212.12. while the NASDAQ rallied 111.40 points or 0.83 percent to end at 13,573.32 and the S&P 500 gained 30.08 points or 0.69 percent to close at 4,369.01.

The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in the month of May, which showed prices edged slightly higher.

The data added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its recent interest rate increases when the central bank announces its monetary policy decision later today.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China announced a surprise rate cut, and the dollar weakened after data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation raised expectations the Fed will pause rate increases. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.30 or 3.4 percent at $69.42 a barrel.