Additional Upside Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 130 points or 4.1 percent. Now at a four-year closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 3,200-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity as traders figure to wait and see what transpires over trade and tariff talks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and automobile producers, while the technology and chemical companies were mixed. For the day, the index gained 26.26 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 3,202.03 after trading between 3,170.72 and 3,202.06. Volume was 439.6 million shares worth 11.4 trillion won. There were 528 gainers and 361 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial spiked 3.61 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.02 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.58 percent, Samsung Electronics eased 0.16 percent, Samsung SDI advanced 0.95 percent, LG Electronics increased 2.52 percent, SK Hynix jumped 1.87 percent, Naver retreated 1.58 percent, LG Chem strengthened 2.14 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.43 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.52 percent, SK Telecom climbed 1.44 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.14 percent, Hyundai Mobis soared 2.61 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 4.33 percent and Kia Motors improved 2.18 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and gradually ticked up into positive territory, finishing with mild gains.

The Dow added 88.14 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 44,459.65, while the NASDAQ gained 54.80 points or 0.27 percent to close at 20,640.33 and the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,268.56.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed President Donald Trump's threats to impose 30 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico beginning Aug. 1. The EU responded that it will suspend the implementation of its trade countermeasures against the U.S. until early August to allow more time for a negotiated settlement.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, including reports on consumer and producer prices, retail sales and industrial production.

Earnings season also picks up steam this week, with Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Jonson (JNJ) and Netflix (NFLX) among the big name companies due to report their quarterly results.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday on continuing concerns over OPEC's decision to increase output again next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dropped $1.24 or 1.85 percent to $65.79 per barrel. Closer to home, South Korea will provide June numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In May, imports were up 3.3 percent on year and exports rose an annual 4.3 percent for a trade surplus of $9.08 billion.