Rebound Anticipated For South Korea Stock Market

The South Korea stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 55 points or 2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,690-point plateau although it’s expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with markets that were closed on Monday likely to see heavy selling as they catch up on negative sentiment; others may see mild recovery. The European markets were sharply lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financials and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the chemical companies and industrials.

For the day, the index shed 7.60 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 2,687.45 after trading between 2,667.85 and 2,689.91. Volume was 860 million shares worth 9 trillion won. There were 426 gainers and 413 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial skidded 1.07 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.34 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.85 percent, Samsung Electronics eased 0.15 percent¸ SK Hynix tumbled 1.78 percent, Naver declined 1.92 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.35 percent, Lotte Chemical advanced 0.76 percent, S-Oil soared 2.42 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.73 percent, POSCO strengthened 1.38 percent, KEPCO tanked 2.81 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.54 percent, Kia Motors gained 0.72 percent and SK Telecom, LG Electronics and Samsung SDI were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as stocks moved back and forth across the unchanged line on Monday before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow climbed 84.29 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 33,061.50, while the NASDAQ surged 201.38 points or 1.63 percent to close at 12,536.02 and the S&P 500 gained 23.45 points or 0.57 percent to end at 4,155.38.

The rebound on Wall Street comes as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness in the markets. The drop seen early in the session dragged the NASDAQ down to its lowest intraday level in well over a year, while the S&P 500 also hit a nearly one-month intraday low.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said growth in U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly slowed in April. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in March.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday, recovering from sharp early losses as traders looked ahead to Wednesday’s monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve and Thursday’s OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.48 or 0.5 percent at $105.17 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide April numbers for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.4 percent on month and 4.4 percent on year. In March, inflation was up 0.7 percent on month and 4.1 percent on year.