Higher Open Anticipated For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Buddha's birthday, the South Korea stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 70 points or 2.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,730-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on rising optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the chemical companies, weakness from the energy and financial sectors and a mixed bag from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 3.13 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 2,730.34 after trading between 2,722.74 and 2,735.82. Volume was 436.6 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won. There were 526 gainers and 342 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.52 percent, while KB Financial plunged 2.45 percent, Hana Financial plummeted 3.46 percent, Samsung Electronics dipped 0.13 percent, Samsung SDI improved 1.27 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.72 percent, SK Hynix advanced 0.82 percent, Naver perked 0.05 percent, LG Chem soared 2.94 percent, Lotte Chemical skyrocketed 5.19 percent, S-Oil fell 0.29 percent, SK Innovation slid 0.36 percent, POSCO added 0.63 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.38 percent, KEPCO rallied 1.60 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.10 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 0.61 percent and Kia Motors shed 0.35 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher and remained in the green throughout, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow rallied 349.89 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 39,908.00, while the NASDAQ spiked 231.21 points or 1.40 percent to close at 16,742.29 and the S&P 500 jumped 61.47 points or 1.17 percent to end at 5,308.15.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. rose slightly less than expected in April.

Following Tuesday's hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data, the report added to recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly came in flat in April, versus forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by soft inflation data and a report showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.61 or 0.78 percent at $78.63 a barrel.