KOSPI May Add To Its Winnings On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 80 points or 3.2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,440-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European markets were flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the chemical and automobile companies were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 37.86 points or 1.57 percent to finish at 2,442.01. Volume was 415.4 million shares worth 7.18 trillion won. There were 717 gainers and 185 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial spiked 2.18 percent, KB Financial strengthened 1.40 percent, Hana Financial soared 3.87 percent, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.94 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 3.23 percent, LG Electronics added 0.81 percent, SK Hynix gained 0.65 percent, Naver plummeted 4.29 percent, LG Chem shed 0.58 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.12 percent, SK Innovation skidded 1.03 percent, POSCO Holdings improved 0.96 percent, SK Telecom increased 1.25 percent, KEPCO jumped 1.97 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.14 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.30 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday but all eventually tracked higher and ended in the green.

The Dow added 66.69 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 42,906.95, while the NASDAQ spiked 192.29 points or 0.98 percent to close at 19,764.88 and the S&P 600 gained 43.22 points or 0.73 percent to end at 5,974.07.

The advance by the tech-heavy NASDAQ came amid a rally by semiconductor stocks, while significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks.

Overall trading activity was subdued, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid what is likely to be a quiet week due to the Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped more than expected in November. Also, the Conference Board noted an unexpected deterioration by consumer confidence in December.

Oil futures settled lower Monday amid concerns about possible excess supply in the market, while a stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February dipped $0.26 or 0.3 percent at $69.20 a barrel.