Tech Shares Likely To Boost KOSPI On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 210 points or 3.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 5,640-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly optimistic on easing oil prices and strength among the technology companies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology, semiconductor and financial sectors.

For the day, the index spiked 168.87 points or 3.09 percent to finish at 5,638.34. Volume was 183.13 million shares worth 15.29 trillion won. There were 593 gainers and 274 decliners.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday; the S&P 500 and NASDAQ moved firmly into positive territory, while the Dow hugged the line all day and just barely managed to finish in the green.

The Dow rose 15.99 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 52,377.57, while the NASDAQ rallied 308.43 points or 1.18 percent to end at 26,477.81 and the S&P 500 added 45.83 points or 0.60 percent to end at 7,722.60.

Tech stocks continued to recover from the sharp pullback seen late last week amid renewed optimism about the artificial intelligence trade after AI giant Anthropic publicly filed for an initial public offering on Monday.

Potentially adding to the positive mood around AI, Nvidia (NVDA) and Meta (META) have announced they will partner to expand their work on Muse and the Muse family of models.

Corporate earnings were a mixed bag as JetBlue (JBLU) and UPS (UPS) reported strong results, while Boeing (BA) disappointed.

Crude oil prices slumped again on Tuesday on efforts by regional intermediaries in the gulf to defuse Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery sank $1.73 or 1.70 percent at $100.03 per barrel.