Tech Shares May Continue To Support KOSPI

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 1,000 points or 12.3 percent in that span. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI now sits just beneath the 8,230-point plateau and it's predicted to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, thanks mostly to easing oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher again on Wednesday on gains from the technology stocks, while the financials, chemicals and automobile producers were all down on profit taking.

For the day, the index surged 181.19 points or 2.25 percent to finish at 8,288.70 after trading between 8,220.04 and 8,457.09. Volume was 615.2 million shares worth 55.8 trillion won. Counterintuitively, there were 823 decliners and just 75 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 1.04 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 2.23 percent, Hana Financial weakened 1.33 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.68 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.87 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.88 percent, SK Hynix skyrocketed 9.31 percent, Naver shed 0.60 percent, LG Chem plunged 5.70 percent, Lotte Chemical cratered 2.75 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 5.18 percent, POSCO Holdings tanked 4.19 percent, SK Telecom contracted 1.67 percent, KEPCO stumbled 2.35 percent, Hyundai Mobis climbed 3.61 percent, Hyundai Motor skidded 1.16 percent and Kia Motors slumped 1.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the line before ending little changed with a slight upside bias - but enough for all three to hit record closing highs..

The Dow climbed 182.60 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 50,644.28, while the NASDAQ added 18.55 points or 0.07 percent to close at 26,674.73 and the S&P 500 perked 1.24 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,520.36.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength, while optimism about an eventual end to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues weigh on oil prices.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday as investors continue to anticipate a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, despite the hard line from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $5.05 or 5.38 percent at $88.84 per barrel.

Traders may also have been somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data later today, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Closer to home, the Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoK is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.50 percent.