South Korea Bourse May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost a dozen points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,310-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing treasuries and ahead of key data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the oil, chemical and technology stocks were offset by weakness from the financials and automobile producers.

For the day, the index added 7.74 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 2,310.55. Volume was 437 million shares worth 6.82 trillion won. There were 593 gainers and 281 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 1.57 percent, while KB Financial slumped 2.67 percent, Hana Financial plummeted 3.76 percent, LG Electronics and LG Chem both improved 1.48 percent, Naver rose 0.38 percent, Lotte Chemical skyrocketed 6.95 percent, S-Oil jumped 1.90 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.29 percent, POSCO soared 2.36 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.10 percent, KEPCO rallied 1.68 percent, Hyundai Mobis plunged 3.86 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 1.77 percent, Kia Motors tanked 2.01 percent and Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Samsung SDI were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher on Monday and mostly improved as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 511.37 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 32,928.96, while the NASDAQ rallied 146.47 points or 1.16 percent to end at 12,789.48 and the S&P 500 gained 49.45 points or 1.20 percent to close at 4,166.82.

The rebound on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following last week's sell-off - which reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and concerns in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, traders continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the potential for further rate hikes.

Oil prices declined sharply Monday amid easing concerns about supply disruptions from the Middle East region. Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement and the non-farm payroll data for October on Friday. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December slumped $3.23 or 3.8 percent at $82.31 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see September numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Production is expected to fall 1.0 percent on month and 0.1 percent on year after rising 5.5 percent on month and easing 0.5 percent on year in August. Retail sales were down 0.3 percent on month in August.