South Korea Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - He South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,330-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and the technology stocks.

For the day, the index gained 15.65 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 2,332.79 after trading between 2,321.48 and 2,335.99. Volume was 425.4 million shares worth 6.9 trillion won. There were 665 gainers and 206 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.08 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.98 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.57 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.35 percent, LG Electronics advanced 0.90 percent, Naver rallied 1.40 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.62 percent, S-Oil shed 0.45 percent, SK Telecom perked 0.10 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.92 percent, Hyundai Mobis was up 0.25 percent, Kia Motors added 0.63 percent and SK Hynix, Samsung SDI, POSCO, SK Innovation, Lotte Chemical and Hyundai Motor were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, with only the Dow managing to break barely into positive territory.

The Dow rose 37.63 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,241.56, while the NASDAQ tumbled 144.64 points or 1.38 percent to end at 10,353.23 and the S&P 500 sank 15.57 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,829.25.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected lingering concerns about the economic outlook following recent indications the Federal Reserve plans to continuing raising interest rates.

The markets got a lift when treasuries moved sharply lower, extending the downward trend seen over the past several sessions.

Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and saw further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.9 basis points to 3.860 percent.

Crude oil prices pared gains and settled roughly flat on Tuesday after refineries in the Gulf Coast restarted after a temporary closure. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled flat at $79.53 a barrel.