The South Korea stock market had finished higher in seven straight sessions, advancing more than 250 points or 9 percent to a fresh record closing high. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,990-point plateau and it's looking at a green light again for Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks largely to a spike in energy prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were higher and the Asian markets are tipped to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher again on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index jumped 46.12 points or 1.57 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,990.57 after trading as low as 2,921.84. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 26.3 trillion won. There were 554 gainers and 293 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.74 percent, while KB Financial accelerated 2.59 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.79 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.08 percent, LG Electronics sank 1.41 percent, SK Hynix soared 3.57 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.24 percent, LG Chem added 0.45 percent, Lotte Chemical gathered 1.07 percent, S-Oil gained 0.71 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 5.63 percent, POSCO perked 4.40 percent, SK Telecom surged 3.80 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.96 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.47 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks bounced higher again following the pullback in the previous session, ending in the green.
The Dow climbed 167.71 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 30,391.60, while the NASDAQ advanced 120.51 points or 0.95 percent to end at 12,818.96 and the S&P 500 gained 26.21 points or 0.71 percent to close at 3,726.86.
Energy stocks helped to lead the rebound on Wall Street, benefiting from a substantial increase by the price of crude oil.
Crude oil futures ended sharply higher Tuesday, lifted by an announcement from Saudi Arabia that it will cut crude production by 1 million barrel per day from February through March. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up by $2.31 or 4.9 percent at $49.93 a barrel.
Buying interest was kept in check as traders await the results of two key Senate runoffs in Georgia. The outcome of the runoff elections will determine which party controls the Senate and could have a major impact on what President-elect Joe Biden is able to accomplish.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in manufacturing activity in December.
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