(RTTNews) – Ahead of Wednesday’s Buddha’s Birthday holiday, the South Korean stock market ended a two-day winning streak, rising nearly 70 points or 2.6%, and has since bounced back and forth between positive and negative ends. KOSPI currently sits just above the 2,730 point plateau and could open in the green again on Thursday.
The global outlook for Asian markets is positive due to growing optimism on the interest rate outlook. European and US markets are expected to rise, with Asian stock exchanges expected to follow suit.
The KOSPI ended slightly higher on Tuesday, led by gains in chemical companies, weakness in the energy and financial sectors, and mixed technology stocks.
The index rose 3.13 points or 0.11 percent to end the day at 2,730.34, after trading between 2,722.74 and 2,735.82. Trading volume was 436.6 million shares, worth 9.3 trillion won. There were 526 advancers and 342 decreasers.
Among active stocks, Shinhan Financial fell 0.52%, KB Financial fell 2.45%, Hana Financial plunged 3.46%, Samsung Electronics fell 0.13%, Samsung SDI rose 1.27%, LG Electronics rose 0.72%, and SK High Knicks rose 0.82% and Naver fell 0.05%. %, LG Chem soared 2.94%, Lotte Chemical soared 5.19%, S-Oil fell 0.29%, SK Innovation fell 0.36%, POSCO rose 0.63%, SK Telecom rose 0.38%, Korea Electric Power rose 1.60%, Hyundai Mobis fell 1.10%, Hyundai Motor rose 0.61% and Kia Motors fell 0.35%.
The lead over Wall Street is strong, as the major averages opened higher and continued higher throughout, ending near their daily highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 349.89 points or 0.88 percent to end at 39,908.00, the Nasdaq jumped 231.21 points or 1.40 percent to end at 16,742.29, and the S&P 500 index rose 61.47 points or 1.17 percent to end at 5,308.15.
Wall Street’s gains came on the heels of the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer price increases were slightly lower than expected in April.
The report recently gained renewed optimism about the interest rate outlook following Tuesday’s better-than-expected producer price inflation data.
In other economic news, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in April, compared to expectations for a 0.4% increase.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, boosted by soft inflation data and reports showing U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June contract fell $0.61, or 0.78%, to end at $78.63 per barrel.
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