The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 150 points or 5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,130-point plateau although it's likely to be stuck in neutral on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests little movement on stimulus concerns and lackluster earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and the automobile companies - while the financials were mixed and the oil companies were soft.
For the day, the index gained 32.87 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 3,129.68 after trading between 3,091.85 and 3,142.26. Volume was 877 million shares worth 21.6 trillion won. There were 563 gainers and 268 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.16 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.24 percent, Hana Financial dipped 0.14 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.24 percent, LG Electronics surged 4.43 percent, Samsung SDI advanced 0.80 percent, LG Chem soared 3.08 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 0.91 percent, S-Oil fell 0.28 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.47 percent, POSCO slid 0.19 percent, Hyundai Motor rallied 2.08 percent, Kia Motors skyrocketed 9.65 percent, Hyundai Mobis spiked 3.89 percent and SK Hynix, SK Telecom and KEPCO were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 36.12 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 30,723.60, while the NASDAQ eased 2.23 points or 0.02 percent to end at 13,610.54 and the S&P 500 rose 3.86 points or 0.10 percent to close at 3,830.17.
Earnings news was inconsistent as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amgen (AMGN) and Amazon all beat the street although only Alphabet posted gains in the market.
The lackluster performance by the broader markets followed the release of some upbeat economic data, which raised concerns lawmakers will feel less pressure to provide additional stimulus.
Payroll processor ADP noted a much stronger than expected rebound in private sector employment in January, while the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated last month.
Crude oil prices moved higher to hit 11-month highs on Wednesday, lifted by OPEC's decision to cut crude production for two months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.93 or 1.7 percent at $55.69 a barrel.
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