South Korea Bourse May Halt Slide On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back trading days, slipping more than 15 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,370-point plateau although it may find traction on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials, chemical companies and automobile producers were offset by gains among the oil stocks and a mixed bag from the technology sector.

For the day, the index eased 0.62 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,372.40 after trading between 2,364.87 and 2,388.27. Volume was 438.75 million shares worth 6.39 trillion won. There were 436 decliners and 416 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.39 percent, while Hana Financial tumbled 1.80 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.34 percent, Samsung SDI clumped 1.08 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.89 percent, SK Hynix strengthened 1.48 percent, LG Chem sank 0.80 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 0.52 percent, S-Oil rallied 2.43 percent, SK Innovation advanced 0.89 percent, POSCO climbed 1.24 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.10 percent, KEPCO rose 0.24 percent, Hyundai Mobis plummeted 3.61 percent, Hyundai Motor tanked 2.45 percent, Kia Motors plunged 3.99 percent and KB Financial and Naver were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday, faded as the day progressed but still finished in the green.

The Dow climbed 103.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,108.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 113.08 points or 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,019.65.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in November.

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant beats ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, with traders likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week, while a weak dollar also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or 3 percent at $75.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see November figures for unemployment later this morning; in October, the jobless rate was 2.8 percent.