South Korea Bourse May Extend Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 10 points or 0.4 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,610-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the FOMC meeting later this week. The European and U.S. markets moved higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index jumped 44.33 points or 1.73 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,610.69 after trading as low as 2,587.52. Volume was 391.15 million shares worth 11.82 trillion won. There were 529 gainers and 355 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial jumped 1.86 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.77 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.50 percent, Samsung Electronics surged 5.30 percent, Samsung SDI shed 0.52 percent, LG Electronics spiked 1.99 percent, SK Hynix improved 0.73 percent, Naver strengthened 1.44 percent, LG Chem added 0.53 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 5.80 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 4.39 percent, POSCO Holdings advanced 0.82 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.90 percent, KEPCO lost 0.45 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 1.57 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.25 percent and Kia Motors sank 0.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday, dipped midday but still finished solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 353.44 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 41,841.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 54.58 points or 0.31 percent to close at 17,808.66 and the S&P 500 improved 36.18 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,675.12.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, which saw the S&P 500 plunge into correction territory last Thursday.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to the Commerce Department's report on U.S. retail sales in the month of February, which wasn't as bad as feared.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed is almost universally expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement and officials' latest projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

Oil futures rose on Monday on hopes of improved demand from China after plans to boost consumer spending, and on possible supply disruptions due to the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.40 or 0.6 percent at $67.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In January, imports rose 0.2 percent on year and exports added 1.0 percent for a trade surplus of $4.30 billion.