On Thursday, South Korea's stock market rebounded after a two-day slump where it shed a marginal 0.1 percent. The market, KOSPI, sits comfortably above the 2,540-point plateau and is expected to sustain its gains.
Internationally, forecasts for Asian markets are promising, following an earlier week's heavy sell-off. While European markets trended downwards, U.S. bourses picked up, a lead Asian markets are likely to follow.
KOSPI made considerable gains on Thursday, buoyed by exporters, particularly automobile companies, due to promising outbound traffic data. Financial institutions also performed well.
The day saw the index gaining 45.37 points or 1.82 percent, ending at a daily high of 2,542.46 after fluctuating to as low as 2,491.93. The trading volume boasted 741.3 million shares valued at 13.3 trillion won. The market saw 668 advancers against 239 decliners.
Notably, Shinhan Financial gained 4.04 percent while KB Financial surged 8.30 percent. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics improved by 1.24 and 1.71 percent respectively. Conversely, SK Hynix lost 1.48 percent while LG Chem declined 1.04 percent. Hyundai Motor made impressive gains, skyrocketing 6.89 percent.
Wall Street trends were also optimistic, with the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all ending on a robust note. This came after bargain hunters bought up stocks after Wednesday's significant sell-off.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon lower rates stimulated trading, despite clarifying that a rate cut in March was unlikely. The ten-year treasury yields saw a decrease, adding to the buying interest.
U.S. economic indicators like an unexpected rise in jobless claims last week and expansion of manufacturing activity in January (despite ongoing contraction) also influenced the market.
Oil futures settled lower on Thursday, due to ceasefire negotiations in the Israel-Hamas conflict, while the prospect of increased energy demand limited losses.
In the local front, South Korea is anticipated to release January consumer price data shortly. The expectation is a 0.4 percent monthly and 2.9 percent annual increase, succeeding a flat monthly score and a 3.2 percent annual increase in December.
