The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in six straight sessions, spiking more than 180 points or 7.3 percent along the way. Now at a two-year closing high, the KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,450-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine. The European markets were sharply higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and oil and chemical companies.
For the day, the index jumped 30.70 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 2,468.83 after trading between 2,434.52 and 2,459.15. Volume was 1.3 billion shares worth 14.6 trillion won. There were 745 gainers and 110 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.47 percent, while KB Financial added 0.70 percent, Hana Financial gathered 1.38 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.17 percent, LG Electronics was up 0.23 percent, SK Hynix dipped 0.35 percent, Samsung SDI surged 6.81 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.94 percent, Lotte Chemical soared 9.20 percent, S-Oil spiked 1.40 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 10.95 percent, POSCO perked 2.63 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.66 percent, KEPCO gained 0.49 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.17 percent and Kia Motors advanced 1.36 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as stocks skyrocketed to open Monday before giving ground as the day progressed and finished on opposite sides of the unchanged line.
The Dow surged 834.57 points or 2.95 percent to finish at 29,157.97, while the NASDAQ plummeted 181.45 points or 1.53 percent to end at 11,713.78 and the S&P 500 jumped 41.06 points or 1.17 percent to close at 3,550.50.
The early rally on Wall Street came following upbeat results from a phase 3 study of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX).
The vaccine news added to positive sentiment generated in reaction to the weekend's news that Democratic candidate Joe Biden's is projected to win the presidential election.
However, President Donald Trump has refused to concede the race, alleging widespread voter fraud with no evidence and launching legal challenges in several key states.
The NASDAQ's slide came as traders moved money out of tech stocks that benefited from the coronavirus pandemic.
Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday as positive news about a potential coronavirus vaccine outweighed reports showing spikes in new infections. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up $3.15 or 8.5 percent at $40.29 a barrel.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
