South Korea Shares Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in seven straight sessions, surging more than 170 points or 5.4 percent along the way. Now at a record closing high, the KOSPI rests just above the 3,310-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses re likely to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index surged 54.48 points or 1.67 percent to close at 3,314.53 after trading between 3,272.07 and 3,317.77. Volume was 486.59 million shares worth 13.6 trillion won. There were 635 gainers and 243 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 3.37 percent, while KB Financial skyrocketed 7.01 percent, Hana Financial surged 4.56 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.54 percent, Samsung SDI fell 0.30 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.26 percent, SK Hynix soared 5.56 percent, Naver climbed 1.08 percent, LG Chem tumbled 1.98 percent, Lotte Chemical increased 0.45 percent, SK Innovation eased 0.09 percent, SK Telecom and Hyundai Mobis both advanced 1.11 percent, KEPCO jumped 1.57 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.68 percent, Kia Motors added 0.47 percent and POSCO Holdings was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and trended generally downward before finishing on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow stumbled 220.42 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,490.92, while the NASDAQ rose 6.57 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,886.06 and the S&P 500 added 19.43 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,532.04.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in August. The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at next week's monetary policy meeting.

Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today - which may also have a significant effect on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.