Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 20 point or 0.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,800-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. employment data later this week. The European and U.S. markets finished slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and chemicals.

For the day, the index rose 6.49 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,804.31. Volume was 452.5 million shares worth 9.8 trillion won. There were 494 decliners and 379 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial lost 0.62 percent, while KB Financial rallied 1.40 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.82 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.37 percent, Samsung SDI soared 3.67 percent, LG Electronics slumped 1.17 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.42 percent, Naver tanked 2.40 percent, LG Chem spiked 2.89 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.66 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.69 percent, POSCO jumped 2.07 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.20 percent, Hyundai Mobis retreated 1.59 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 3.05 percent, Kia Motors lost 0.54 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the markets opened slightly higher on Monday and hugged the line for much of the day before moving firmly into the green by the close.

The Dow added 50.66 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 39,169.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 146.70 points or 0.83 percent to end at 17,879.30 and the S&P 500 gained 14.61 points or 0.27 percent to close at 5,475.09.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. The report, which is expected to show a slowdown in the pace of job growth in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Traders may also be sticking to the sidelines ahead of remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday as well as the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in June. Also, the Commerce Department noted a slight decrease in U.S. construction spending in May.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, on expectations of higher demand, supply concerns and production cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended higher by $1.84 or about 2.2 percent at $83.38 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide June figures for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.1 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year - both unchanged from the May reading.