KOSPI May Sputter On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,090-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from the oil companies offsetting weakness among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial, steel, automobile, technology and chemical stocks.

For the day, the index gained 17.95 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,089.65 after trading between 3,088.45 and 3,133.52. Volume was 563.22 million shares worth 14.99 trillion won. There were 706 gainers and 185 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial and SK Telecom both improved 1.41 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.81 percent, Hana Financial increased 3.01 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 1.59 percent, Samsung SDI soared 3.13 percent, LG Electronics spiked 2.17 percent, SK Hynix slumped 1.28 percent, Naver added 0.57 percent, LG Chem skyrocketed 8.27 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 4.42 percent, SK Innovation jumped 3.35 percent, POSCO Holdings surged 5.75 percent, Hyundai Steel gained 2.04 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 0.35 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.47 percent and Kia Motors strengthened 1.75 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and finished in the same fashion.

The Dow rallied 400.17 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 44,494.94, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.85 points or 0.82 percent to end at 20,202.89 and the S&P 500 slipped 6.94 points or 0.11 percent to close at 6,198.01.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the strong performance seen in recent sessions, which saw the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 reach new record highs.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, D.C., where the Senate narrowly voted to approve President Donald Trump's massive tax cuts and spending bill.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management noted a modest increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in June. Also, the Labor Department saw an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in May.

Crude oil rose modestly on Tuesday as attention shifts to the OPEC cartel's supposed plans to increase output even as the Middle East remains uneventful. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery traded at $65.40 per barrel, up $0.29 or 0.45 percent.

Closer to home, South Korea will release June data for consumer prices later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a flat monthly reading and a 2.1 percent yearly gain. That follows the 0.1 percent monthly contraction and the 1.9 percent yearly increase.