The South Korea stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 25 points or 1.1 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,960-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation after several days of gains, although support from crude oil prices should limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as the financial shares and technology stocks were mostly higher, while the oil and automobile companies were soft.
For the day, the index rose 2.26 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,962.46 after trading between 2,949.17 and 2,987.28. Volume was 699 million shares worth 9.6 trillion won. There were 540 gainers and 317 decliners.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial slid 0.27 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.90 percent, Hana Financial advanced 1.14 percent, Samsung Electronics dipped 0.14 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.41 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.40 percent, Naver rallied 2.33 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.54 percent, LG Chem fell 0.26 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.23 percent, S-Oil declined 0.99 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.64 percent, POSCO perked 0.18 percent, KEPCO retreated 1.47 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.93 percent, Kia Motors declined 1.25 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent the entire session in the re easing from record closing highs.
The Dow skidded 112.24 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 36,319.98, while the NASDAQ lost 95.81 points or 0.60 percent to close at 15,886.54 and the S&P 500 fell 16.45 points or 0.35 percent to end at 4,695.25.
Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Tuesday amid rising hopes about the outlook for energy demand after the United States lifted travel restrictions to several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up by $2.22 or 2.7 percent at $84.15 a barrel.
The pullback on Wall Street partly reflected profit taking, as some traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets.
Economic news may begin to attract increased attention, as investors try to gauge when the Federal Reserve will start to begin raising interest rates. The Fed has announced plans to begin scaling back its asset purchases but signaled that it will not be in a hurry to raise rates.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased by slightly more than anticipated in October.
Closer to home, South Korea will see October figures for unemployment later this morning; in September, the jobless rate was 3.0 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
