Mild Upside Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 75 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,770-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly positive on a slightly improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday with gains across the board following the lopsided election of Lee Jae-myung.

For the day, the index jumped 71.87 points or 2.66 percent to finish at 2,770.84 after trading between 2,734.02 and 2,771.03. Volume was 485.85 million shares worth 11.95 trillion won. There were 798 gainers and 119 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skyrocketed 7.35 percent, while KB Financial surged 7.90 percent, Hana Financial rallied 6.43 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.76 percent, Samsung SDI fell 0.23 percent, LG Electronics improved 0.71 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.82 percent, Naver shed 0.54 percent, LG Chem strengthened 1.74 percent, Lotte Chemical increased 1.69 percent, SK Innovation spiked 3.65 percent, POSCO Holdings added 0.61 percent, SK Telecom expanded 1.55 percent, KEPCO slumped 1.50 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 1.42 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.09 percent and Kia Motors gained 1.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but gave back almost off of their gains to finish mixed and flat.

The Dow dropped 91.90 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 42,427.74, while the NASDAQ gained 61.53 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,460.49 and the S&P 500 perked 0.44 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,970.81.

The lackluster performance followed the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data. While the data raised concerns about the strength of the economy, it also generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP reported much weaker than expected private sector job growth in May. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in May.

However, the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.6 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

Crude oil futures moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, reflecting easing supply concerns as rains slowed the growth of blazes that had disrupted Canadian crude production. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell $0.56 or 0 .9 percent to $62.85 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide April numbers for current account later this morning; in March, the current account surplus was $9.14 billion.