The South Korea stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 160 points or 5.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,855-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead of key upcoming talks between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The KOSPI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers. For the day, the index jumped 43.72 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 2,855.77 after trading between 2,841.39 and 2,867.27. Volume was 528.24 million shares worth 13.61 trillion won. There were 700 gainers and 200 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 2.03 percent, while KB Financial rallied 4.14 percent, Hana Financial soared 5.58 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.18 percent, Samsung SDI stumbled 2.01 percent, LG Electronics added 0.69 percent, SK Hynix jumped 2.00 percent, Naver improved 3.82 percent, Lotte Chemical advanced 0.82 percent, SK Innovation strengthened 1.30 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.39 percent, SK Telecom increased 0.95 percent, KEPCO surged 4.09 percent, Hyundai Mobis skyrocketed 10.04 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 4.32 percent, Kia Motors spiked 2.36 percent and LG Chem was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is pedestrian as the major averages opened lower on Monday, moved into the green by midday but faded going into the close to end mixed and little changed.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.