Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's market holiday for National Foundation Day, the South Korea stock market had climbed higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 160 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 7,000-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian market is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing crude oil prices and hopes for an end to the conflict in the Middle East. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the energy, resource, chemical and communications sectors.

For the day, the index added 32.39 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 7,003.74 after trading between 6,927.88 and 7,011.04. Volume was 227.64 million shares worth 15.29 trillion won. There were 500 gainers and to 359 decliners.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but generally trended higher throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow added 90.94 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 51,267.90, while the NASDAQ jumped 286.45 points or 1.05 percent to end at a record 27,477.31 and the S&P 500 gained 51.23 points or 0.66 percent to close at 7,773.95.

The strength on Wall Street may partly have reflected easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following last week's inflation and employment data.

On Wednesday, the Fed is scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in September.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Monday amid indications that exports from the Middle East are returning to pre-war levels despite the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery sank $1.21 or 1.3 percent to $89.90 a barrel.