KOSPI May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 210 points or 4 percent in that span. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,300-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the release of U.S. employment data later today. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, chemical companies and automobile producers.

For the day, the index rose 3.65 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 5,301.69 after trading between 5,286.67 and 5,363.62. Volume was 705.3 million shares worth 22.9 trillion won. There were 687 gainers and 209 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surged 4.82 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.71 percent, Hana Financial rallied 2.86 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.36 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.26 percent, LG Electronics expanded 1.36 percent, SK Hynix slumped 1.24 percent, Naver jumped 1.60 percent, LG Chem accelerated 3.38 percent, Lotte Chemical vaulted 2.27 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.91 percent, POSCO Holdings climbed 2.06 percent, SK Telecom collected 0.41 percent, KEPCO tanked 2.88 percent, Hyundai Mobis was up 0.46 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.52 percent and Kia Motors gained 0.59 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday, hugged both sides of the line all day and then finished little changed.

The Dow rose 52.27 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 50,188.14, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.20 points or 0.59 percent to end at 23,102.47 and the S&P 500 sank 23.01 points or 0.33 percent to close at 6,941.81.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

The report, which was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week, is expected to show employment climbed by 70,000 jobs in January after rising by 50,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4 percent.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in December. A separate report from the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. crept up in line with estimates in December.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.12 of 0.19 percent to $64.24 per barrel.