KOSPI’s Roller-Coaster Ride Expected To Lead To Gains On Tuesday

The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 65 points or 2.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,380-point plateau although it’s expected to open in the green on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive as financial institutions around the world continue to takes steps to head off more turmoil. The European and U. S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the financial, oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index lost 16.49 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 2,379.20 after trading between 2,378.70 and 2,405.99. Volume was 339.75 million shares worth 5.97 trillion won. There were 446 gainers and 426 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.43 percent, while KB Financial eased 0.10 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.79 percent, Samsung SDI sank 0.83 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 3.39 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.36 percent, Naver jumped 1.77 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.71 percent, Lotte Chemical was up 0.29 percent, S-Oil perked 0.26 percent, SK Innovation retreated 2.34 percent, POSCO shed 0.62 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.71 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.01 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 2.30 percent, Hyundai Motor declined 0.85 percent, Kia Motors plunged 2.74 percent and Hana Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all eventually settled firmly in the green.

The Dow surged 382.60 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 32,244.58, while the NASDAQ rose 45.02 points or 0.39 percent to close at 11,675.54 and the S&P 500 added 34.93 points or 0.89 percent to end at 3,951.57.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest efforts to address turmoil in the banking sector, including UBS Group’s (UBS) state-backed acquisition of Credit Suisse (CS).

The Federal Reserve also announced it has joined with other central banks around to world to take coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.

Traders were also looking ahead to the Fed’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 26.9 percent chance interest rates will remain unchanged and a 73.1 percent chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday to settle on a firm note, shrugging off concerns the banking chaos might lead to financial crisis or a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.90 or 1.4 percent at $67.64 a barrel.

Closer to home, the Bank of Korea said this morning that producer prices were up 0.1 percent on month in February, slowing from 0.4 percent in January. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 4.8 percent, easing from 5.1 percent in the previous month.

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