Tech Shares May Drag KOSPI Into The Red On Tuesday

The South Korea stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 40 points or 1.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,400-point plateau although it may head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat, with support from the energy stocks likely offset by weakness from the technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financials, oil companies and automobile producers – while the technology and chemical companies were mixed.

For the day, the index added 10.55 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 2,403.69 after trading between 2,385.65 and 2,412.47. Volume was 316.23 million shares worth 5.77 trillion won. There were 427 gainers and 400 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial advanced 0.98 percent, while KB Financial and POSCO both rose 0.21 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.28 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.33 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.76 percent, LG Electronics improved 0.43 percent, Naver dropped 0.80 percent, LG Chem slumped 0.89 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.19 percent, S-Oil added 0.33 percent, SK Innovation gained 0.56 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.39 percent, KEPCO strengthened 1.62 percent, Hyundai Motor rallied 2.62 percent, Kia Motors jumped 1.73 percent, Hyundai Mobis surged 3.43 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened flat on Monday and then bounced up and down throughout the session before finishing mixed.

The Dow climbed 90.75 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 31,990.04, while the NASDAQ lost 51.45 points or 0.43 percent to close at 11,782.67 and the S&P 500 rose 5.14 points or 0.13 percent to end at 3,966.77.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

CME Group’s FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 77.5 percent chance of a 75-basis point interest rate hike and a 22.5 percent chance of a 100-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Monday as concerns about outlook for energy demand eased, while the dollar’s weakness ahead of the upcoming Fed statement also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $2.00 or 2.1 percent at $96.70 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will on Tuesday release an advance estimate for Q2 gross domestic product. GDP is expected to rise 0.4 percent on quarter and 2.5 percent on year after adding 0.6 percent on quarter and 3.0 percent on year in the three months prior.

Market Analysis