Tech Shares May Weigh On South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, rallying more than 340 points or 4.8 percent along the way, The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 6,600-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to profit taking and weakness among the technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are likely to follow a similar path.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and automobile producers, while the energy companies were soft.

For the day, the index spiked 239.31 points or 3.76 percent to finish at 6,598.26 after peaking at 6,674.66. Volume was 335.16 million shares worth 25.21 trillion won. There were 672 gainers and 197 decliners.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but quickly headed south and finished mostly in the red on profit taking.

The Dow gained 263.24 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 54,349.12, while the NASDAQ tumbled 221.55 points or 0.83 percent to end at 26,363.44 and the S&P 500 sank 12.97 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,723.55.

The downturn by the markets reflected concerns about AI spending after SpaceX (SPCX) reported its first quarterly results as a public company, revealing an unwelcome spike in capital spending.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment increased by less than expected in the month of July.

Crude oil prices were down for a third straight day on Wednesday on continued optimism for the reopening of Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.49 or 0.65 percent at $75.28 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see current account numbers for June later today; in May, the current account surplus was $38.61 billion.