KOSPI Poised To Crack Resistance At 2,800 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had added more than 20 point or 0.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,790-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm on an improved outlook for interest rates. 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 financial shares and industrials, while the technology and chemical companies were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 13.15 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 2,794.01. Volume was 334.2 million shares worth 10.1 trillion won. There were 586 decliners and 269 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial spiked 3.23 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.44 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.70 percent, Samsung SDI soared 4.27 percent, SK Hynix jumped 1.72 percent, Naver eased 0.06 percent, LG Chem accelerated 1.98 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 1.83 percent, S-Oil shed 0.59 percent, SK Innovation improved 1.97 percent, POSCO climbed 1.37 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.97 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.21 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 1.27 percent, Hyundai Motor strengthened 1.28 percent, Kia Motors perked 0.08 percent and Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for the first half of the day before diverging to finish mixed.

The Dow dipped 23.90 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 39,308.00, while the NASDAQ gained 159.54 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 18,188.30 and the S&P 500 added 28.01 points or 0.51 percent to close at 5,537.02 - also a record.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of weaker than expected economic data.

The Institute for Supply Management showed an unexpected contraction by U.S. service sector activity in June. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

However, overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued and treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the weaker than expected data. The markets closed earlier than usual and remain closed for the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also lent support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $1.07 at $83.88 a barrel.