Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 25 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,730-points plateau and it may see mild upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is generally upbeat following the FOMC's rate decision. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and energy companies.

For the day, the index gained 22.85 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 2,728.17. Volume was 499.4 million shares worth 11.5 trillion won. There were 502 gainers and 372 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 3.46 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.89 percent, Hana Financial improved 1.01 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.73 percent, Samsung SDI was up 0.25 percent, LG Electronics rallied 2.44 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.18 percent, Naver slumped 1.06 percent, LG Chem dropped 0.93 percent, Lotte Chemical increased 0.33 percent, S-Oil advanced 0.90 percent, SK Innovation added 0.58 percent, POSCO sank 0.79 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.39 percent, KEPCO perked 0.15 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.91 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.37 percent and Kia Motors rose 0.41 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, although the Dow couldn't hold its gains and slipped into the red.

The Dow shed 35.21 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 38,712.21, while the NASDAQ rallied 264.89 points or 1.53 percent to close at 17,608.44 and the S&P 500 gained 45.71 points or 0.85 percent to end at 5,421.03.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly flat in May, which led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

But later in the day, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement revealed that officials now expect only one interest rate cut this year.

The Fed acknowledged modest further progress toward its inflation objective in recent months but said officials still need greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target before they will consider lowering rates.

Oil prices climbed higher Wednesday on hopes of increased demand and tighter supply conditions later in the year, as well as a weak dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July rose $0.60 at $78.50 a barrel.