Higher Open Called For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday halted the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 100 points or 2.8 percent. The KOSPI sits just above the 3,430-point plateau and it's expected to tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index jumped 45.16 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 3,431.21 after trading between 3,413.33 and 3,439.12. Volume was 412.8 million shares worth 9.94 trillion won. There were 596 gainers and 269 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.46 percent, while KB Financial collected 2.66 percent, Hana Financial jumped 1.95 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.08 percent, Samsung SDI strengthened 1.65 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.52 percent, SK Hynix spiked 3.71 percent, Naver skyrocketed 7.02 percent, LG Chem shed 0.57 percent, Lotte Chemical accelerated 3.13 percent, SK Innovation gathered 0.49 percent, POSCO Holdings improved 1.27 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.73 percent, KEPCO soared 1.93 percent, Hyundai Mobis perked 0.34 percent, Hyundai Motor was up 0.23 percent and Kia Motors added 0.50 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but eventually managed to finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 68.78 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 46,316.07, while the NASDAQ gained 107.09 points or 0.48 percent to end at 22,591.15 and the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,661.21 percent.

The upswing on Wall Street reflected strength among technology stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) jumping 2.1 percent and video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) surging 4.5 percent.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown ahead of a deadline later today.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday, which could impact the outlook for interest rates. But the data could be delayed if the government shuts down.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday in the wake of oversupply concerns thanks to OPEC's plans for increasing output. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.50 or 3.80 percent at $63.22 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide August numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning; in July, industrial output was up 0.3 percent on month and 5.0 percent on year, while sales rose 2.5 percent on month.