The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back trading days, jumping more than 75 points or 3.1 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,340-point plateau and it's looking at another green light again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on hopes for a definitive result from the United States presidential election. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to also open in the green.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials, technology stocks and oil and chemical companies.
For the day, the index spiked 43.15 points or 1.88 percent to finish at 2,343.31 after trading between 2,315.30 and 2,344.77. Volume was 874 million shares worth 10.7 trillion won. There were 696 gainers and 154 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.79 percent, while KB Financial climbed 1.55 percent, Hana Financial and SK Telecom both jumped 1.86 percent, Samsung Electronics spiked 2.44 percent, LG Electronics advanced 0.94 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.26 percent, Samsung SDI accelerated 4.43 percent, LG Chem soared 5.30 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 5.52 percent, S-Oil gathered 3.27 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 7.35 percent, POSCO perked 2.08 percent, KEPCO rose 0.49 percent, Kia Motors dropped 0.97 percent and Hyundai Motor was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the day, extending gains from the previous session.
The Dow surged 554.98 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 27,480.03, while the NASDAQ spiked 202.96 points or 1.85 percent to end at 11,160.57 and the S&P 500 jumped 58.92 points or 1.78 percent to close at 3,369.16.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders hope for a definitive outcome from the election. Democratic candidate Joe Biden holds a clear lead in national polls and is also leading in several key swing states in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.
Traders seem optimistic that the results of the election will be known at the end of the night without the need for lawsuits and recounts. Trump has repeatedly raised questions about the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and has not committed to a peaceful transition of power.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a significant increase in September.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on a weaker dollar and hopes that OPEC may postpone a plan to ease output cuts in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December gained $0.85 or 2.3 percent at $37.66 a barrel.
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