Rally May Stall For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,460-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. bourses were little changed and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the technology, oil and automobile stocks, while the financials and chemicals were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 30.55 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 2,462.62 after trading between 2,441.07 and 2,464.45. Volume was 411 million shares worth 9.63 trillion won. There were 450 decliners and 435 gainers.

Among the actives, KB Financial collected 0.40 percent, while Hana Financial retreated 1.25 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.65 percent, Samsung SDI skyrocketed 6.84 percent, LG Electronics surged 3.34 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.75 percent, Naver accelerated 4.38 percent, LG Chem soared 3.27 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.19 percent, S-Oil climbed 1.09 percent, SK Innovation jumped 4.48 percent, POSCO sank 0.75 percent, SK Telecom improved 1.43 percent, KEPCO advanced 0.84 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.15 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.80 percent, Kia Motors added 0.38 percent and Shinhan Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded badly in the afternoon, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 40.47 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,431.44, while the NASDAQ dipped 13.27 points or 0.11 percent to close at 11,675.74 and the S&P 500 perked 2.78 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,048.42.

The early strength on Wall Street came as treasury yields moved notably lower amid optimism that the Federal Reserve is close to finishing its aggressive interest rate hikes.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as treasury yields rebounded ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell - who is due to testify before the Senate Banking Committee later today and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report is also likely to attract attention later in the week.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday after Saudi Arabia signaled that it sees oil demand picking up in Asia and Europe by raising most prices for crude shipments to the regions. West Texas International Crude oil futures for April advanced $0.78 or 1 percent at $80.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see Q4 numbers for gross domestic product later this morning, with forecasts calling for a fall of 0.4 percent on quarter and a gain of 1.4 percent on year. That follows the 0.3 percent quarterly increase and the 3.1 percent yearly gain in the three months prior.