Rebound Predicted For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 75 points or 2.9 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,630-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology stocks and oil companies. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the chemicals and technology stocks were offset by support from the financial shares and automobile producers.

For the day, the index sank 11.06 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 2,632.07. Volume was 359.99 million shares worth 6.84 trillion won. There were 463 decliners and 401 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 1.67 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.62 percent, Hana Financial added 0.48 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.94 percent, Samsung SDI gained 0.50 percent, LG Electronics tumbled 1.92 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.86 percent, Naver skidded 1.19 percent, LG Chem shed 0.64 percent, Lotte Chemical stumbled 2.02 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.70 percent, POSCO Holdings plummeted 5.37 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.89 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.90 percent, Hyundai Mobis surged 4.88 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 3.90 percent and Kia Motors rallied 3.13 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 597.97 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 42,583.32, while the NASDAQ rallied 404.54 points or 2.27 percent to close at 18,188.59 and the S&P 500 gained 100.01 points or 1.76 percent to end at 5,767.57.

The support on Wall Street came on reports that President Donald Trump may hold back some of the reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.

Semiconductor and networking stocks had a very good outing. Shares from steel, banking, retail and airline sectors too closed mostly higher.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday after Trump announced a 25 percent secondary tariff on countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled higher by $0.83 or 1.22 percent at $69.11 a barrel.