South Korea Shares May See Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions advancing more than 350 points or 6.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,600-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and surging oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index jumped 77.36 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 5,609.95 after trading between 5,559.69 and 5,746.36. Volume was 1 billion shares worth 26.3 trillion won. There were 701 gainers and 198 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 2.13 percent, while KB Financial collected 2.65 percent, Hana Financial spiked 3.18 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.12 percent, Samsung SDI sank 0.87 percent, LG Electronics strengthened 1.73 percent, SK Hynix jumped 1.81 percent, Naver added 0.68 percent, LG Chem expanded 1.45 percent, Lotte Chemical vaulted 2.70 percent, SK Innovation fell 0.25 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.44 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.91 percent, KEPCO improved 0.74 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.95 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 0.62 percent and Hyundai Mobis was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent much of Wednesday's trade bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.

The Dow dropped 289.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,417.27, while the NASDAQ rose 19.03 points or 0.08 percent to end at 22,716.13 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.68 points or 0.08 percent to close at 6,775.80.

The recent volatility has largely been driven by big swings by the price of crude oil, which rebounded on Wednesday.

Crude oil is regained ground after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it has received reports of three vessels being struck by projectiles off Iran's coast, adding to worries about transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday as the Middle East conflict fails to show any indication of calming down soon. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $4.21 or 5.04 percent at $87.66 per barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in February.