Rally May Stall For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 65 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,480-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with mild downside likely from the oil and technology stocks. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets also figure to see little movement.

For the day, the index gained 10.34 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 2,482.29 after trading between 2,471.79 and 2,489.15. Volume was 400.3 million shares worth 7.7 trillion won. There were 435 gainers and 420 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial soared 3.72 percent, while KB Financial surged 4.37 percent, Hana Financial spiked 2.00 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.78 percent, Samsung SDI perked 0.19 percent, LG Electronics accelerated 2.42 percent, Naver was up 0.05 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.04 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 2.98 percent, POSCO improved 1.37 percent, SK Telecom rallied 2.16 percent, KEPCO skidded 1.04 percent, Hyundai Mobis jumped 1.80 percent, Hyundai Motor strengthened 1.39 percent, Kia Motors gained 2.94 percent and SK Hynix and SK Innovation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Wednesday's trade in negative territory before a late push saw them finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 139.53 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 43,408.47, while the NASDAQ slipped 21.33 points or 0.11 percent to close at 18,966.14 and the S&P 500 perked 0.13 points or 0.00 percent to end at 5,917.11.

The late rally was fueled by optimism ahead of the release of earnings results from tech darling Nvidia (NVDA); the results, which came after the markets closed, were solid but fell short of their lofty expectations.

The volatility seen late in the session also came as trading activity was somewhat subdued amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make more significant moves as they kept an eye on developments overseas amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday on weak demand concerns and data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December slipped $0.52 or 0.75 percent at $68.87 a barrel.