Renewed Consolidation Expected For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish o the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 100 points or 4.2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,370-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative ahead of the FOMC's rate decision later today. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares were limited by weakness from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the industrials and oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index added 12.19 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 2,367.85 after trading between 2,359.84 and 2,382.52. Volume was 407.9 million shares worth 6.9 trillion won. There were 654 decliners and 198 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 1.25 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.71 percent, Hana Financial climbed 1.17 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.06 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.77 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.20 percent, LG Chem sank 0.79 percent, Lotte Chemical gained 0.87 percent, S-Oil fell 0.34 percent, SK Innovation jumped 1.42 percent, POSCO soared 3.68 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.78 percent, KEPCO added 0.51 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 3.11 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.49 percent, Kia Motors shed 0.50 percent and Naver was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened in the red on Tuesday and held their negative bias throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 313.45 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 30,706.23, while the NASDAQ sank 109.97 points or 0.95 percent to end at 11,425.05 and the S&P 500 tumbled 43.96 points or 1.13 percent to close at 3,855.93.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders were jittery ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points, although some see an outside chance for a 100-point rate hike.

Treasury yields saw further upside ahead of the Fed announcement, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumping to a new 11-year high.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected spike in new residential construction in the U.S. in August, although the report also showed a steeper than expected slump in building permits.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns about interest rate hikes and worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for October ended lower by $1.28 or 1.5 percent at $84.45 a barrel on expiration day.