FX.co ★ South Korea Shares Poised To Open In The Green

The South Korean stock market showed a notable upward trend on Monday, following a three-day winning streak, ending with a 22-month closing high. Currently located just above the 2,685-point mark, it is projected to continue the growth on Tuesday.

The Asian market is predicted to have a bright future based on the global outlook, with technology and oil stocks providing substantial backing. Although European markets witnessed decline, the U.S. markets experienced growth; the tendency of the Asian markets is to follow this favorable trend.

The Korean exchange (KOSPI) concluded with a slight incline on Monday, as technology stocks witnessed growth, financials saw a slump, and the performance of industrials and chemicals varied.

For the day, the index escalated by 19.00 points or 0.71% ending at 2,685.84. It traded between 2,665.28 and 2,688.07 and a total of 401 million shares valuing 9.35 trillion won were exchanged. The day witnessed more decliners (439) than gainers (434).

Regarding the active market players, Shinhan Financial saw a decline of 1.31%, KB Financial dropped 2.36%, and Hana Financial reduced 0.16%. On the contrary, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, and SK Hynix climbed 0.69%, 4.47%, and 1.92% respectively. In a similar vein, LG Chem, SK Innovation, POSCO, and Kia Motors witnessed gains. However, LG Electronics, Naver, S-Oil, KEPCO, Hyundai Mobis, and Hyundai Motor endured losses.

Inspiration for global markets came as Wall Street reported positive figures. Both the Dow and the NASDAQ saw notable inclinations, resulting in increased levels at the close of trade.

On Wall Street, the rally was tech-led, with the NASDAQ benefitting considerably from gains from entities such as Alphabet and Nvidia. Concurrently, traders kept an eye on the Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary policy meeting starting Tuesday, expecting the interest rates to remain unchanged due to the decline in optimism for a rate cut, influenced by the recent inflation readings.

In other U.S. economic news, an improvement was reported in U.S. homebuilder confidence in March, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Monday also saw a rise in oil prices, propelled by rising concerns about supply due to geopolitical risks following continuous drone attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil refineries. This rise was also influenced by the decrease in crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Consequently, the West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures jumped $1.68 or 2.1% at $82.72 a barrel.