KOSPI May Crack Resistance At 3,100 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 50 points or 1.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,070-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on trade deal optimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials, chemicals and energy stocks were capped by weakness from the automobile producers.

For the day, the index gained 15.76 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,071.70. Volume was 460.56 million shares worth 13.16 trillion won. There were 488 gainers and 395 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 1.49 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.27 percent, Hana Financial spiked 2.49 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.64 percent, Samsung SDI improved 1.83 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.40 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.82 percent, Naver jumped 1.94 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.20 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.34 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 25.15 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.38 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.89 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 0.86 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.73 percent and Kia Motors dropped 0.82 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and remained in the green throughout the session, ending near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 275.50 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 44,094.77, while the NASDAQ climbed 96.28 points or 0.47 percent to close at 20,369.73 and the S&P 500 gained 31,88 points or 0.52 percent to end at 6,204.95.

The continued strength on Wall Street came amid ongoing optimism about trade deals ahead of the impending deadline for U.S. reciprocal tariffs early next month.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to news Canada has rescinded its digital services tax on American tech firms, which were initially set to begin being collected on Monday.

Crude oil prices closed lower on Monday amid a backdrop of easing Middle Eastern tensions and concerns of excess supply as OPEC plans to scale up production. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.41 to settle at $65.11 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide preliminary June numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to rise 6.9 percent on year after shrinking 5.3 percent in May. Exports are called higher by an annual 4.7 percent after easing 1.3 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $8.40 billion, up from $6.94 billion a month earlier.