South Korea Bourse May Remain Stuck In Neutral

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after ending the three-day slide in which it had slumped almost 40 points or 1.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,570-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to rising treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology stocks and industrials, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index dropped 34.22 points or 1.31 percent to finish at 2,570.70 after trading between 2,564.46 and 2,604.16. Volume was 337.43 million shares worth 8.75 trillion won. There were 688 decliners and 195 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.36 percent, while KB Financial added 0.64 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.46 percent, Samsung Electronics tanked 2.20 percent, Samsung SDI plummeted 3.14 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.93 percent, SK Hynix slumped 1.62 percent, Naver tumbled 3.17 percent, LG Chem plunged 3.87 percent, Lotte Chemical lost 0.87 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.75 percent, POSCO stumbled 3.49 percent, SK Telecom rallied 2.13 percent, KEPCO spiked 2.59 percent, Hyundai Mobis jumped 1.43 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 1.05 percent and Kia Motors retreated 2.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday and hugged the line throughout the day, with the NASDAQ managing to peek above the line by the close.

The Dow shed 6.71 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 42,924.89, while the NASDAQ rose 33.12 points or 0.18 percent to end at 18,573.13 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.78 points or 0.05 percent to close at 5,851.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates after a recent surge by U.S. treasury yields.

After the Fed slashed interest rates by 50 basis points last month, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 89.6 percent chance of just a 25-basis point rate cut next month.

The subsequent recovery by the markets came even though the yield on the benchmark ten-year note crept up to a nearly three-month closing high, as traders are optimistic about the economic outlook.

Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid hopes that China's latest stimulus move will push up demand, although the upside was limited by a possible a ceasefire deal in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for November added $1.53 or 2.1 percent at $72.09 a barrel.