South Korea Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Thursday

The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 35 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,690-point plateau although it may be due for consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast is mixed and flat amid a lack of catalysts, with expected weakness from the technology stocks likely offset by gains from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology, chemical and industrial companies.

For the day, the index added 11.76 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 2,693.57 after trading between 2,679.54 and 2,701.45. Volume was 491 million shares worth 10.7 trillion won. There were 444 gainers and 428 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial soared 4.62 percent, while KB Financial surged 5.87 percent, Hana Financial spiked 2.18 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.09 percent, LG Electronics eased 0.20 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.27 percent, Naver skidded 1.10 percent, LG Chem added 0.66 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.75 percent, S-Oil tumbled 1.86 percent, SK Innovation was down 0.12 percent, POSCO shed 0.44 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.95 percent, KEPCO gained 1.05 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.20 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.90 percent, Kia Motors slid 0.16 percent and Samsung SDI was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and finished the same way, little changed.

The Dow added 37.83 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 39,043.32, while the NASDAQ sank 87.87 points or 0.54 percent to close at 16,177.77 and the S&P 500 fell 9.96 points or 0.19 percent to end at 5.165.31.

The pullback by the Nasdaq partly reflected weakness in the tech sector, with AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumping by 1.1 percent.

Overall trading activity remained subdued ahead of several key reports in the coming days, including producer prices, jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales.

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while supply disruptions in Russia also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April rose $2.16 or 2.8 percent at $79.72 a barrel.