Win Streak May Continue For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in two straight trading days, collecting almost 30 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,630-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of Wednesday's FOMC interest rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the steel makers and energy companies were offset by weakness from the financials and automobile producers.

For the day, the index gained 18.77 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 2,628.53. Volume was 522.67 million shares worth 18.81 trillion won. There were 790 decliners and 118 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.91 percent, while KB Financial tanked 2.06 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.66 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.14 percent, Samsung SDI soared 3.79 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.66 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.96 percent, Naver retreated 1.46 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.74 percent, Lotte Chemical eased 0.07 percent, S-Oil spiked 2.40 percent, SK Innovation surged 11.21 percent, POSCO skyrocketed 16.52 percent, SK Telecom slid 0.33 percent, KEPCO plunged 3.04 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.23 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.40 percent and Kia Motors skidded 1.18 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher, faded as the day progressed but still finished with modest gains.

The Dow jumped 183.55 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 35,411.24, while the NASDAQ rose 26.06 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,058.87 and the S&P 500 added18.30 points or 0.40 percent to end at 4,554.64.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has contributed to an 11-day winning streak for the Dow, the longest since February 2017. The recent strength lifted all three major averages to their best levels in over a year last week.

Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday, buoyed by increased demand for gasoline and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.67 or 2.2 percent at $78.74 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release preliminary Q2 numbers for gross domestic product later this morning. GDP is expected to add 0.5 percent on quarter and 0.8 percent on year after rising 0.3 percent on quarter and 0.9 percent on year in the previous three months.