KOSPI May Reclaim 3,200-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had improved almost 80 points or 2.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just shy of the 3,190-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with strength likely from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to also move to the upside.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials and automobile producers, weakness from the chemicals and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 7.80 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,187.16. Volume was 279.6 million shares worth 8.7 trillion won. There were 520 decliners and 336 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.08 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.18 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.37 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.43 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 1.61 percent, LG Electronics was up 0.14 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.57 percent, Naver retreated 1.36 percent, LG Chem skidded 1.04 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 3.37 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.24 percent, POSCO Holdings declined 1.51 percent, KEPCO and SK Telecom both gained 0.54 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 1.00 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.69 percent and Kia Motors improved 0.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved largely to the upside throughout the day and ended with modest gains.

The Dow climbed 147.16 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 45,565.23, while the NASDAQ added 45.87 points or 0.21 percent to close at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 rose 15.46 points or 0.24 percent to end at a record 6,481.40.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA). After the markets closed, NVIDIA reported earnings that increased from the same period last year and beat estimates.

Traders were also reluctant to make big moves ahead of Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending for July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday after U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.83 or 1.33 percent at $64.08 per barrel.

Closer to home, the Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoK is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.50 percent.