KOSPI May Reclaim 6,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 640 points or 11.7 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 5,970-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on tumbling crude oil prices and hopes for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology stocks and automobile producers, while the financial shares came in mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 159.13 points or 2.74 percent to finish at 5,967.75 after trading between 5,938.33 and 6,026.52. Volume was 881.9 billion shares worth 26.7 trillion won. There were 669 gainers and 197 decliners.

Among the actives, KB Financial shed 0.45 percent, while Hana Financial collected 0.67 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 2.74 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.47 percent, LG Electronics rallied 4.08 percent, SK Hynix surged 6.06 percent, Naver strengthened 1.26 percent, LG Chem rose 0.44 percent, SK Innovation perked 0.08 percent, POSCO Holdings gathered 0.42 percent, SK Telecom spiked 3.24 percent, KEPCO soared 5.09 percent, Hyundai Mobis vaulted 3.45 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.72 percent, Kia Motors climbed 1.22 percent and Shinhan Financial and Lotte Chemical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened solidly in the green on Tuesday and continued to climb as the day progressed, ending at session highs.

The Dow jumped 317.74 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 48,535.99, while the NASDAQ soared 455.35 points or 1.96 percent to end at 23,639.08 and the S&P 500 rallied 81.14 points or 1.18 percent to close at 6,967.38.

The continued strength on Wall Street came amid optimism about a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran over ending the Middle East conflict.

The news about potential negotiations contributed to a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil. In addition, the International Energy Agency's report cautioning crude oil "demand destruction" weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $7.18 or 7.25 percent at $91.90 per barrel.

Adding to the positive sentiment, a report from the Labor Department showed producer prices in the U.S. increased much less than expected last month.

Closer to home, South Korea will release March figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In February, imports were up 13.2 percent on year and export surged an annual 48.3 percent for a trade surplus of $25.74 billion.