South Korea Stock Market Overdue For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after it had ended the five-day winning streak in which it had soared almost 150 points or 6.2 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 2,755-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation after several days of gains. The European and U.S. markets were firmly negative and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher with gains across the board - especially from the financials, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index spiked 54.54 points or 2.02 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,755.47 after moving as low as 2,703.30. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 16.8 trillion won. There were 658 gainers and 192 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.74 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.54 percent, Hana Financial gained 1.01 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 3.07 percent, LG Electronics was up 1.26 percent, SK Hynix rallied 4.78 percent, Samsung SDI advanced 2.35 percent, LG Chem accelerated 3.08 percent, Lotte Chemical spiked 3.90 percent, S-Oil gathered 2.58 percent, SK Innovation surged 5.11 percent, POSCO perked 2.82 percent, KEPCO soared 4.19 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 2.68 percent, Kia Motors improved 0.95 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative after stocks opened higher on Wednesday but quickly headed south and finished firmly in the red.

The Dow dropped 105.07 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 30,068.81, while the NASDAQ plummeted 243.82 points or 1.94 percent to end at 12,338.95 and the S&P 500 sank 29.43 points or 0.79 percent to close at 3,672.82.

The declines on Wall Street came after the markets posting fresh intraday highs on Wednesday and ended the session notably lower due to a sell-off in technology shares.

Investors were tracking the developments on the fiscal stimulus front, and the updates on the coronavirus vaccine front., while profit taking after recent gains also contributed to the markets' fall.

The U.S. saw continued surge in new coronavirus cases, with over 210,000 new cases of infections on Tuesday. After Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced a $916 billion stimulus package, lawmakers said they were still looking for a way forward on additional fiscal aid.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a sharp increase in U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January settled at $45.52 a barrel, down $0.08 or 0.2 percent.