The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering almost 65 points or 2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 3,150-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat amid optimism about swifter economic recovery thanks to a drop in new coronavirus cases and improved vaccination drive across the world. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were off on holiday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in the green.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the technology and chemical companies, while the financials and oil stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index jumped 46.42 points or 1.50 percent to finish at 3,147.00 after trading between 3,108.70 and 3,156.56. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 16.6 trillion won. There were 569 gainers and 278 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.46 percent, while KB Financial lost 0.44 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.41 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.19 percent, LG Electronics retreated 1.49 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.76 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 2.81 percent, LG Chem spiked 3.12 percent, Lotte Chemical advanced 0.99 percent, S-Oil skyrocketed 7.26 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 4.22 percent, POSCO skidded 1.11 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.84 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.02 percent, Kia Motors sank 0.81 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.
With Wall Street off for President's Day, the lead from Europe is solid as stocks opened higher on Monday and strengthened as the day progressed.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended stronger by 2.52 percent, France's CAC 40 moved up 1.45 percent and Germany's DAX gained 0.42 percent, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.56 percent.
European stocks ended higher on rising optimism about rapid economic recovery amid expectations of additional stimulus packages and on hopes of faster rollout of coronavirus vaccines across the world.
Energy stocks were in demand as oil prices surged higher amid an escalation in tensions in the Middle East. Shares from banking and technology sectors too ended mostly higher.
Closer to home, the Bank of Korea said this morning that export prices in South Korea were down 2.3 percent on year in January, beating forecasts for a decline of 5.1 percent after sinking 5.4 percent in December. Import prices sank an annual 6.7 percent versus expectations for a drop of 11.2 percent after falling 10.2 percent in the previous month.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
