KOSPI May See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 25 points or 0.9 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,640-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. 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 financials and industrials, while the technology and chemical companies were mixed.

For the day, the index added 10.80 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 2,641.09. Volume was 377.9 million shares worth 10.9 trillion won. There were 543 gainers and 335 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial spiked 2.59 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.12 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.81 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.05 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.42 percent, SK Hynix strengthened 1.25 percent, Naver strengthened 1.31 percent, LG Chem shed 0.48 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 6.13 percent, SK Innovation rose 0.26 percent, POSCO Holdings soared 2.73 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.34 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.40 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.59 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.23 percent, Kia Motors advanced 0.97 percent and LG Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.