South Korea Shares May Cut Into Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 280 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 5,650-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing oil prices and a rebound among battered technology stocks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses among the technology, health and retail sectors.

For the day, the index plunged 210.29 points or 3.59 percent to finish at 5,648.79. Volume was 192.4 million shares worth 14.1 trillion won. There were 656 decliners and 220 gainers.

The lead from Wall Street is a study in contrasts as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 opened higher on Tuesday and stayed that way, while the Dow opened in the red and remained under water throughout the day.

The Dow dropped 197.26 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 51,786.72, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.65 points or 0.83 percent to close at 25,372.01 and the S&P 500 added 27.52 points or 0.36 percent to end at 7,568.92.

The pullback by the Dow reflected a big decline by shares of Apple (AAPL), which slumped 1.9 percent after it posted increased quarterly revenue and profits but forecast slightly below consensus gross margin for the current quarter.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the tech sector higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.6 percent after ending the previous session at a six-month closing low.

Computer hardware, software and networking stocks also saw considerable strength following recent weakness.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Tuesday amid rising expectations on a possible settlement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.52 or 0.54 percent at $95.94 per barrel.