KOSPI May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, rallying more than 220 points or 4.5 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the KOSPI sits just above the 5,170-point plateau although investors may take a breather on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid geopolitical concerns, although support from gold and oil figure to limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher again on Wednesday following gains from the industrial, chemical and technology stocks, although the financial sector was soft.

For the day, the index jumped 85.96 points or 1.69 percent to finish at 5,170.81 after trading between 5,124.80 and 5,183.44. Volume was 578.1 shares worth 29.6 trillion won. There were 440 decliners and 429 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 2.67 percent, while KB Financial plunged 3.57 percent, Hana Financial tanked 2.19 percent, Samsung Electronics jumped 1.82 percent, Samsung SDI rallied 2.32 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.38 percent, SK Hynix soared 5.12 percent, Naver retreated 1.42 percent, LG Chem spiked 2.91 percent, Lotte Chemical accelerated 4.10 percent, SK Innovation tumbled 2.96 percent, POSCO Holdings surged 5.15 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.58 percent, KEPCO contracted 1.82 percent, Hyundai Mobis cratered 2.83 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.82 percent and Kia Motors slumped 2.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is of little help as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but tailed off and hugged the line, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 12.19 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 49,015.60, while the NASDAQ added 40.35 points or 0.17 percent to close at 23,857.45 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.57 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,978.03.

The choppy trading on Wall Street continued after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The Fed said the decision to keep rates steady came amid elevated uncertainty about the economic outlook. The central bank also said it remains attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the long run.

Despite the choppy trading by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7 percent to a new record closing high.

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday as Iran rejected any nuclear talks under threat even as a massive U.S. armada nears the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.85 or 1.36 percent at $63.24 per barrel.