The South Korea stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 115 points or 3.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 3,040-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to downward pressure on crude oil, while profit taking may also be on the docket. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.
For the day, the index jumped 30.92 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 3,043.87 after trading between 3,020.74 and 3,096.50. Volume was 1.7 billion shares worth 18.5 trillion won. There were 481 gainers and 363 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.91 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.60 percent, Hana Financial spiked 2.29 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.33 percent, LG Electronics spiked 1.71 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.12 percent, LG Chem skyrocketed 7.22 percent, Lotte Chemical and SK Innovation both gathered 1.73 percent, S-Oil shed 0.47 percent, POSCO perked 1.24 percent, KEPCO gained 0.88 percent, Hyundai Motor advanced 0.84 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 0.88 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained mostly in the red throughout the session.
The Dow dropped 143.99 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 31,391.52, while the NASDAQ tumbled 230.04 points or 1.69 percent to end at 13,358.79 and the S&P 500 lost 31.53 points or 0.81 percent to close at 3,870.29.
Profit taking contributed to the pullback on Wall Street, with some traders cashing in on the strong gains on Monday.
The weakness came despite a continued decrease by the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moved lower for the third straight session - easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Tuesday ahead of the upcoming OPEC meeting that may see the group hike production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.89 or 1.5 percent at $59.75 a barrel.
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