South Korea May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 30 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,525-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the technology and automobile stocks were capped by weakness from the chemicals and a mixed picture from the energy companies.

For the day, the index gained 7.51 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 2,525.36 after trading between 2,512.45 and 2,528.89. Volume was 424 million shares worth 7.97 trillion won. There were 479 gainers and 375 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dipped 0.14 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.39 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.36 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.55 percent, Samsung SDI sank 0.89 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.42 percent, SK Hynix improved 1.10 percent, LG Chem shed 0.63 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 0.38 percent, S-Oil gained 0.45 percent, SK Innovation slid 0.59 percent, POSCO dropped 0.95 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.20 percent, KEPCO rose 0.21 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 0.22 percent, Hyundai Motor was up 0.16 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 0.81 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is modestly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all turned higher to finish with mild gains.

The Dow jumped 157.06 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 36,404.93, while the NASDAQ added 28.51 points or 0.20 percent to close at 14,432.49 and the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points or 0.39 percent to end at 4,622.44.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, although stocks continued to benefit from the optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Optimism the Fed could pivot to cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024 has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although last Friday's strong than expected jobs data has led to speculation the Fed could wait until May to begin lowering rates.

Crude oil futures settled marginally higher on Monday due to continued uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended with a small gain of $0.09 or 0.13 percent at $71.32 a barrel.