South Korea Stock Market May Crack Resistance At 2,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering more than 40 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,370-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to receding treasury levels and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index advanced 23.36 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 2,371.79 after trading between 2,354.22 and 2,373.28. Volume was 386 million shares worth 8 trillion won. There were 627 gainers and 248 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.38 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.74 percent, Hana Financial perked 0.12 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.35 percent, Samsung SDI was up 0.95 percent, LG Electronics improved 2.60 percent, SK Hynix gained 2.37 percent, Naver tumbled 2.87 percent, LG Chem added 2.03 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 8.89 percent, S-Oil soared 3.38 percent, SK Innovation jumped 2.25 percent, POSCO skyrocketed 8.01 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.40 percent, KEPCO rose 0.30 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 0.91 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 3.99 percent and Kia Motors spiked 2.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and mostly remained in the green throughout the day, finishing near session highs.

The Dow surged 423.78 points or 1.31 percent to finish at 32,827.00, while the NASDAQ advanced 89.26 points or 0.85 percent to close at 10,564.52 and the S&P 500 gained 36.25 points or 0.96 percent to end at 3,806.80.

The broader markets benefited from late-day buying for the second straight session, with below average volume potentially exaggerating the upward move.

Earlier in the day, traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the U.S. midterm elections later today and the release of consumer price inflation data on Thursday.

The midterm elections will determine whether Democrats maintain control of Congress, while the inflation data could affect the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices saw considerable volatility on Monday amid uncertainty about the outlook for Chinese energy demand due to conflicting reports about the country's COVID-19 policies. After spiking earlier, West Texas Intermediate finished lower by $0.82 or 0.9 percent at $91.79 a barrel. Closer to home, South Korea will release September numbers for current account later this morning; in August, the current account deficit was $3.05 billion.