Mild Upside Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 40 points or 1.2 percent to a four-year closing high. The KOSPI sits just above the 3,185-point plateau although it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing inflation concerns. 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 lower on Wednesday as investors books profits in the finance, technology and automobile sectors.

For the day, the index shed 28.90 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 3,186.38. Volume was 525.37 million shares worth 11.09 trillion won. There were 704 decliners and 189 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.98 percent, while KB Financial plummeted 5.02 percent, Hana Financial cratered 4.97 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.57 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.73 percent, LG Electronics surrendered 1.95 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.84 percent, Naver rose 0.20 percent, LG Chem plunged 5.00 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 3.13 percent, SK Innovation dropped 3.36 percent, POSCO Holdings crashed 4.83 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.18 percent, KEPCO dipped 0.15 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.33 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 1.66 percent and Kia Motors lost 0.50 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, dipped midday but then bounced higher heading into the close.

The Dow jumped 231.49 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 44,254.78, while the NASDAQ added 52.69 points or 0.25 percent to close at a fresh record high of 20,730.49 and the S&P 500 rose 19.94 points or 0.32 percent to end at 6,263.70.

Stocks came under pressure in late morning trade following reports President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a meeting with House Republicans.

However, the major averages moved back to the upside after Trump said he's "not planning" on firing Powell.

The choppy trading on Wall Street also followed a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly came in flat in June. While the data helped ease inflation concerns, the Fed is still seen as likely to leave interest rates unchanged until September at the earliest.

Crude oil prices dropped for the third straight day on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said gasoline inventories increased by 3.4 million barrels last week and are slightly above the five-year average for this time of year. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery fell $0.14 to settle at $65.38 per barrel.