South Korea Stock Market Has Firm Lead For Wednesday's Trade

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, climbing almost 70 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,400-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 27.25 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 2,399.04 after trading between 2,375.67 and 2,400.39. Volume was 492.8 million shares worth 8.5 trillion won. There were 670 gainers and 202 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.14 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.63 percent, Hana Financial dipped 0.12 percent, Samsung Electronics soared 2.66 percent, Samsung SDI stumbled 1.35 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.44 percent, SK Hynix declined 1.27 percent, Naver surged 5.03 percent, LG Chem tumbled 1.85 percent, S-Oil skidded 1.05 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.03 percent, POSCO retreated 1.27 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.20 percent, KEPCO climbed 1.18 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.58 percent, Hyundai Motor gathered 0.29 percent, Kia Motors added 0.60 percent and Lotte Chemical was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages accelerated Tuesday morning, faded in the afternoon but steadied going into the close.

The Dow surged 333.83 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,160.83, while the NASDAQ advanced 51.68 points or 0.49 percent to end at 10,616.20 and the S&P 500 gained 21.31 points or 0.56 percent to close at 3,828.11.

The higher close on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, with the major averages adding to the strong gains posted Monday and last Friday to further offset last week's pullback.

The continued strength also came as traders awaited the outcome of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

The early afternoon pullback by stocks coincided with a steep drop by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which followed news Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached a deal to buy competitor FTX.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as reports showing a surge in COVID-19 cases in China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.88 or 3.1 percent at $88.91 a barrel.