South Korea Shares Due For Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, easing almost 10 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,520-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues.

For the day, the index eased 2.02 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,518.03 after trading between 2,507.95 and 2,548.44. Volume was 565.7 million shares worth 9.2 trillion won. There were 485 decliners and 386 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.40 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.11 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.40 percent, Samsung Electronics perked 0.19 percent, Samsung SDI stumbled 3.90 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.24 percent, SK Hynix spiked 2.83 percent, Naver dipped 0.24 percent, LG Chem plunged 4.75 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.69 percent, SK Innovation tanked 3.71 percent, POSCO plunged 4.80 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.90 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.17 percent, Hyundai Mobis accelerated 2.46 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.96 percent and Kia Motors was unchanged.

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

The Dow soared 537.98 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 44,025.81, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.58 points or 0.64 percent to close at 19,756.78 and the S&P 500 gained 52.58 points or 0.88 percent to end at 6,049.24.

U.S. stocks were firmly in positive territory, with investors assessing the possible impact of the Trump administration's economic policies and likely tariff proposals.

Optimism about some interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and a drop in treasury yields also contributed to market's upside.

The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, weighed down by Trump's plans to boost oil and gas production in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed down $1.99 or 2.56 percent at $75.89 a barrel.