Tech Shares May Boost South Korea Shares

(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 soared almost 100 points or 4 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,480-point plateau and it may move higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the technology stocks were capped by weakness from the industrials and financials.

For the day, the index rose 5.68 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,480.33 after trading between 2,463.65 and 2,485.20. Volume was 608 million shares worth 9.14 trillion won. There were 596 gainers and 282 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial declined 1.21 percent, while KB Financial eased 0.10 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.73 percent, Samsung Electronics improved 0.81 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.05 percent, SK Hynix gained 0.77 percent, Naver spiked 1.86 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.20 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.60 percent, S-Oil plunged 2.56 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.11 percent, POSCO skidded 1.02 percent, KEPCO fell 0.26 percent, Hyundai Mobis added 0.68 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.85 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 2.00 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday, faded midday and then bounced higher again to end in the green.

The Dow added 56.22 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 33,592.92, while the NASDAQ jumped 162.19 point or 1.45 percent to end at 11,358.41 and the S&P 500 gained 34.48 points or 0.87 percent to close at 3,991.73.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. crept up much less than expected in October.

Following last week's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation report, the data added to optimism about the Federal Reserve slowing the pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month.

However, stocks pulled back well off their best levels of the day following reports Russian missiles crossed into Poland, killing two people.

Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday, thanks to the smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. producer prices in October. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.94 at 86.81 a barrel.