Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, picking up more than 20 points or 1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,100-point plateau and the market may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm thanks to upbeat earnings news and a spike in the price of crude oil. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were up - and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modesty higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index climbed 18.54 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 2,102.93 after trading between 2,085.00 and 2,108.48.

Among the actives, Samsung Electronics added 0.72 percent, while SK Hynix spiked 2.00 percent, LG Electronics gathered 0.16 percent, POSCO jumped 1.41 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.67 percent, Korea Electric Power shed 0.12 percent, Hyundai Mobis dipped 0.38 percent, Shinhan Financial collected 1.29 percent and Woori Bank surged 2.24 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher on Tuesday and stayed that way, helping the major averages to hit fresh record closing highs.

The Dow gained 118.95 points or 0.6 percent to 20,743.00, while the NASDAQ rose 27.37 points or 0.5 percent to 5,895.95 and the S&P added 14.22 points or 0.6 percent to 2,365.38.

Retail giants Wal-Mart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) moved higher after reporting their quarterly financial results, although activity was subdued with traders looking ahead to the latest Federal Reserve minutes later today.

Crude oil prices rose Tuesday after OPEC said it would pursue stricter compliance to its quotas. Crude-oil prices for April finished up 55 cents or 1 percent to $54.33 a barrel.