South Korea Shares May Reverse Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 160 points or 2.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 6,940-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to softening oil prices and treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and semiconductors.

For the day, the index dropped 62.35 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 6,941.39. Volume was 257.27 million shares worth 19.1 trillion won. There were 459 decliners and 424 gainers.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened modestly higher on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 253.38 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 51,521.28, while the NASDAQ added 122.48 points or 0.45 percent to close at a record 27,599.79 and the S&P 500 gained 44.98 points or 0.58 percent to end at 7,818.93, also a record.

The early strength on Wall Street came amid a pullback by treasury yields, which retreated after recently surging to multi-decade highs.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later. The minutes may shed additional light on Fed officials' thinking ahead of the central bank's next interest rate decision later this month.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than expected in the month of August.

Crude oil prices came off of early lows but still ticked lower on Tuesday following reports that Middle East crude exports are recovering back up toward pre-war levels. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.18 or 0.2 percent at $89.25 a barrel.