South Korea Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 30 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,595-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected ahead of key jobs data from the United States later in the week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology companies. For the day, the index climbed 26.71 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 2,585.52. Volume was 631.71 million shares worth 10.75 trillion won. There were 454 gainers and 41 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial improved 1.15 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.83 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.23 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.84 percent, Samsung SDI soared 3.61 percent, LG Electronics skyrocketed 10.83 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.01 percent, Naver lost 0.49 percent, LG Chem lost 0.57 percent, Lotte Chemical stumbled 1.64 percent, S-Oil declined 1.21 percent, SK Innovation surged 4.98 percent, POSCO added 0.69 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.81 percent, KEPCO rose 0.22 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.54 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.43 percent and Kia Motors retreated 2.06 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is not encouraging as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday but started to trend lower as the day progressed, with the Dow finishing in the red.

The Dow shed 50.56 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 33,042.78, while the NASDAQ rose 41.74 points or 0.32 percent to close at 13,017.43 and the S&P 500 perked 0.07 points or 0.00 percent to end at 4,205.52.

The early strength on Wall Street materialized on the weekend's news that an agreement had been reached to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a disastrous default by the U.S. government.

Much of that had already been priced in, however, and stocks faded ahead of Friday's jobs report amid concerns about further interest rate hikes.

In economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence in the U.S. saw a modest decrease from an upwardly revised level in May.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, weighed down by doubts about China's economic recovery and uncertainty over whether the Congress will pass the debt deal this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $3.21 or 4.4 percent at $69.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide April numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Output is expected to sink 0.9 percent on month and 7.3 percent on year after rising 5.1 percent on month and falling 7.6 percent on year in March. Sales are expected to add 0.8 percent on month, accelerating from 0.4 percent in March.