South Korea Shares Likely To Remain Rangebound On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had risen just 8 points or 0.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,720-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher ahead of key data points this week. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and industrials were capped by weakness from the oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index perked 3.44 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 2,717.65 after trading between 2,706.74 and 2,725.58. Volume was 611.2 million shares worth 10.36 trillion won. There were 590 decliners and 277 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.68 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.29 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.42 percent, Samsung SDI eased 0.12 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.46 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.88 percent, Naver retreated 1.68 percent, LG Chem plunged 2.95 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 2.65 percent, S-Oil shed 0.60 percent, SK Innovation gained 0.59 percent, POSCO jumped 2.15 percent, SK Telecom added 0.39 percent, KEPCO spiked 3.01 percent, Hyundai Mobis perked 0.21 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 3.10 percent, Kia Motors soared 3.33 percent and Samsung Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages were fairly volatile on Monday but finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 11.24 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 38,892.80, while the NASDAQ rose 5.43 points or 0.03 percent to close at 16,253.80 and the S&P 500 eased 1.95 points or 0.04 percent to end at 5,202.39.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched inflation data later in the week.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

Wednesday will also see the release of the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting, which could also shed additional light on officials' thinking on rates.

Oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid slightly easing geopolitical tensions after Israel removed its troops from Southern Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $0.48 or 0.55 percent at $86.43 a barrel.