South Korea Bourse May Extend Winning Streak

The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back trading days, soaring nearly 60 points or 3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just shy of the 2,040-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on optimism for economic recovery as economies continue to reopen. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index jumped 35.18 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 2,029.78 after trading between 1,997.94 and 2,029.89. Volume was 999.5 million shares worth 12.39 trillion won. There were 664 gainers and 184 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 1.71 percent, while KB Financial accelerated 3.99 percent, Hana Financial jumped 4.49 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.82 percent, SK Hynix gained 0.61 percent, LG Electronics increased 0.70 percent, LG Chem advanced 6.29 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.90 percent, S-Oil surged 5.38 percent, SK Innovation skyrocketed 14.15 percent, POSCO perked 2.33 percent, KEPCO rose 0.47 percent, Hyundai Motors spiked 1.88 percent, Kia Motors soared 3.62 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks opened firmly higher on Tuesday and remained well in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 529.95 points or 2.17 percent to finish at 24,995.11, while the NASDAQ added 15.63 points or 0.17 percent to 9,340.22 and the S&P 500 rose 36.32 points or 1.23 percent to end at 2,991.77.

The rally on Wall Street was fueled by optimism for a possible vaccine for the Covid-19 virus as U.S. biotech company Novavax said Monday it started the first human study of its experimental coronavirus vaccine and that it expects initial results on safety and immune responses in July.

There was also a positive reaction to news that several states are continuing to relax lockdown restrictions and reopening more businesses.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid rising optimism for improved energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended up $1.10 or 3.3 percent at $34.35 a barrel.