KOSPI May Extend Record Pace

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved sharply higher in three straight sessions, accelerating more than 300 points or 6.8 percent in that span. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 4,525-point plateau and it's tipped to open to the upside again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be positive, despite several of the regional bourses already at record closing highs. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to at least open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology stocks, weakness from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financials and chemicals.

For the day, the index rallied 67.96 points or 1.52 percent to finish at the daily high of 4,525.48 after trading as low as 4,395.00. Volume was 492.84 million shares worth 25.27 trillion won. There were 482 decliners and 394 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.77 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.32 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.85 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.58 percent, Samsung SDI improved 0.73 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.72 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.31 percent, Naver vaulted 4.21 percent, LG Chem shed 0.45 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.16 percent, SK Innovation rallied 3.21 percent, POSCO Holdings increased 0.50 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.38 percent, KEPCO strengthened 1.30 percent, Hyundai Mobis tumbled 1.61 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 1.15 percent and Kia Motors eased 0.08 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened in the green on Tuesday and trended higher through the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 484.90 points or 0.99 percent to finish at a record high 49,462.08, while the NASDAQ climbed 151.35 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,547.17 and the S&P 500 gained 42.77 points or 0.62 percent to close at 6,944.82, also a record.

The Dow benefitted from a sharp increase by shares of Amazon (AMZN) after it announced it is rolling out Alexa.com to Alexa+ Early Access customers in what is seen as an effort to more directly compete with ChatGPT and Gemini.

The continued advance by the broader markets came despite a lack of major catalysts, as traders look ahead to the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days.

The highlight of the week may be the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday. That data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as investors booked profits while analyzing the consequences of Saturday's swift U.S. military operation in Venezuela on global oil supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.11 or 1.90 percent at $57.21 per barrel.