Tech Shares May Weigh On South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, jumping more than 105 points or 4.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,420-point plateau although investors may cash in on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely offset by weakness from technology and retail companies. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, oil and chemical companies and technology and industrial companies.

For the day, the index advanced 20.17 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 2,422.09 after trading between 2,393.96 and 2,422.10. Volume was 555.34 million shares worth 7.03 trillion won. There were 598 gainers and 262 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial climbed 1.30 percent, while Hana Financial rallied 2.39 percent, KB Financial and Samsung Electronics both collected 1.02 percent, Samsung SDI was up 2.11 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.78 percent, SK Hynix perked 0.32 percent, Naver spiked 1.41 percent, LG Chem soared 4.59 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.52 percent, S-Oil surged 3.85 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.51 percent, POSCO jumped 2.10 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.74 percent, KEPCO plunged 3.72 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.64 percent and Kia Motors improved 1.24 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off early gains and quickly turned lower, finishing the day near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 491.27 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 30,946.99, while the NASDAQ plunged 343.01 points or 2.98 percent to close at 11,181.54 and the S&P 500 slumped 78.56 points or 2.01 percent to end at 3,821.55.

The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that China has cut quarantine times for international travelers in a big step toward easing Covid-19 controls.

But buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with lingering concerns about a potential recession continuing to weigh on the markets.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, extending recent gains after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates indicated that they can barely increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.19 or 2 percent at $111.76 per barrel.