South Korea Shares May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,425-point plateau although it's due for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and accompanying statement later today. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers, while the chemical companies offered support.

For the day, the index dropped 25.39 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 2,425.08 after trading between 2,423.37 and 2,457.48. Volume was 606 million shares worth 10.15 trillion won. There were 498 gainers and 367 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tanked 3.93 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 2.44 percent, Hana Financial plunged 4.79 percent, Samsung Electronics plummeted 3.63 percent, Samsung SDI eased 0.29 percent, LG Electronics dipped 0.30 percent, SK Hynix slumped 2.43 percent, Naver lost 2.17 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.02 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.45 percent, S-Oil declined 1.67 percent, SK Innovation skidded 1.04 percent, POSCO dropped 0.99 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.96 percent, KEPCO retreated 1.54 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.48 percent, Hyundai Motor stumbled 1.76 percent and Kia Motors surrendered 2.62 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened roughly flat on Tuesday but moved steadily higher as the day progressed.

The Dow climbed 368.95 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 34,086.04, while the NASDAQ jumped 190.74 points or 1.67 percent to close at 11,584.55 and the S&P 500 advanced 58.83 points or 1.46 percent to end at 4,076.60.

Recent data has reinforced the view that the central bank will likely slow the pace of its monetary policy tightening later today and raise interest rate by only 25 basis points.

The central bank's accompanying statement will be in focus for clues about further interest rate hikes.

In economic news, the Labor Department said employment cost index wages in the U.S. increased at a slower pace in Q4, while the Institute for Supply Management said the Chicago PMI contracted for the fifth straight month.

Crude oil futures moved higher on Tuesday on expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at a slower pace, so the greenback might strengthen less than expected. West Texas International Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $78.87 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release January figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to slip 3.6 percent on year after falling 2.5 percent in December. Exports are called lower by an annual 11.3 percent after dropping 9.6 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at $9.27 billion following the $4.69 billion shortfall a month earlier.