Tech Shares May Weigh On South Korea Stocks

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 430 points or 7.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,550-point plateau although it may head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests renewed pressure thanks to a rebound by crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index rallied 148.18 points or 2.74 percent to finish at 5,553.92 after trading between 5,395.17 and 5,643.00. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 24.5 trillion won. There were 705 gainers and 190 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.11 percent, while KB Financial collected 1.10 percent, Hana Financial added 0.47 percent, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor both rallied 1.44 percent, Samsung SDI surged 5.58 percent, LG Electronics accelerated 4.38 percent, SK Hynix soared 5.68 percent, Naver jumped 2.15 percent, LG Chem skyrocketed 8.28 percent, Lotte Chemical skidded 1.11 percent, SK Innovation spiked 4.26 percent, POSCO Holdings vaulted 4.46 percent, SK Telecom expanded 3.23 percent, KEPCO strengthened 2.52 percent, Hyundai Mobis climbed 3.02 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 2.35 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and bounced back and forth cross the unchanged line before settling slightly in the red.

The Dow shed 84.41 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 46,124.06, while the NASDAQ dropped 184.87 points or 0.84 percent to end at 21,761.89 and the S&P 500 sank 24.63 points or 0.37 percent to close at 6,556.37.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, with international benchmark Brent crude futures surging back above $100 a barrel.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as market participants found U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of U.S.-Iran peace talks to be unfounded. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.90 or 4.43 percent at $92.03 per barrel.

Iran's foreign ministry said Trump's remarks were "part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time" for military plans.