South Korea Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 75 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,970-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, as investors wait to see if there's any slowdown in the Iran/Israel conflict. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher again on Wednesday as gains from the chemicals and industrials were capped by weakness from the financial shares.

For the day, the index improved 21.89 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 2,972.19 after trading between 2,933.63 and 2,979.32. Volume was 568.6 million shares worth 14.4 trillion won. There were 457 decliners and 425 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.82 percent, while KB Financial eased 0.09 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.75 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.93 percent, Samsung SDI was down 0.06 percent, LG Electronics spiked 2.22 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.00 percent, Naver skyrocketed 17.92 percent, LG Chem rose 0.24 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.32 percent, SK Innovation surged 10.98 percent, POSCO Holdings gained 0.58 percent, SK Telecom soared 2.30 percent, Hyundai Mobis surged 4.72 percent, Hyundai Motor improved 0.49 percent, Kia Motors dropped 0.70 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Wednesday's trade in positive territory before turning lower and ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 44.14 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 42,171.66, while the NASDAQ rose 25.18 points or 0.13 percent to close at 19,546.27 and the S&P 500 eased 1.85 points or 0.03 percent to end at 5,980.87.

The lackluster day on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed officials still seem to expect to two interest rate cuts this year, lowering the rate to a range of 4.0 percent to 3.75 percent by the end of 2025.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits edged modestly lower last week. Also, the Commerce Department saw a steep drop by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of May.

Crude oil price ticked higher on Wednesday as the Israel-Iran conflict, which began with Israeli airstrikes on June 12, entered the sixth straight day with casualties increasing on both sides. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose by $0.30 to settle at $75.15 per barrel.