Profit Taking Expected For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. Now at a fresh four-year closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 3,215-point plateau although it is overdue for consolidation on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with weakness expected from the oil, finance and property stocks, while the technology companies may offer support. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were also mostly soft and the Asian market figure to open in the red.

The TSE finished modestly higher again on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the industrials were soft.

For the day, the index gained 13.25 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,215.28. Volume was 415.06 million shares worth 11.94 trillion won. There were 510 decliners and 364 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.39 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.93 percent, Hana Financial advanced 0.94 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.92 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 1.05 percent, LG Electronics fell 0.39 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.50 percent, Naver rose 0.20 percent, LG Chem dipped 0.18 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 1.76 percent, SK Innovation added 0.43 percent, POSCO Holdings dipped 0.16 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.88 percent, KEPCO lost 0.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis tanked 2.54 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.76 percent and Kia Motors plunged 2.91 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and trended generally lower, remaining mixed at the close.

The Dow tumbled 436.36 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 44,023.29, while the NASDAQ gained 37.47 points or 0.18 percent to close at a record 20,677.80 and the S&P 500 sank 24,80 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,243.76.

The uptick by the NASDAQ came amid strength in the semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index ended the session at its best closing level in a year.

Nvidia (NVDA) helped lead the sector higher, with the AI darling surging by 4.0 percent to a record closing high after indicating it will "soon" resume H20 AI chip sales to China.

On the other hand, housing stocks moved sharply lower on the day, resulting in a 3.3 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Oil service stocks also slumped amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3.1 percent.

Crude oil price fell modestly on Tuesday as the previously predicted supply-side pressure from Russia due to President Donald Trump's sanctions waned with his 50-day ultimatum. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.46 at $66.52 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide June numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In May, imports were up 3.3 percent on year and exports rose an annual 4.3 percent for a trade surplus of $9.08 billion.