Rebound Tipped For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had improved almost 80 points or 2.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just shy of the 3,180-point plateau although it may reverse those losses on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with tech shares likely to rise ahead of key earnings news later in the day. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figures to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials. For the day, the index sank 30.50 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 3,179.36. Volume was 318.6 million shares worth 12.4 trillion won. There were 540 decliners and 321 gainers, Among the actives, Shinhan Financial surrendered 2.55 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 1.81 percent, Hana Financial skidded 1.09 percent, Samsung Electronics both retreated 1.68 percent, Samsung SDI slipped 0.23 percent, LG Electronics and LG Chem both eased 0.14 percent, SK Hynix improved 0.77 percent, Naver stumbled 2.00 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 4.44 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.57 percent, POSCO Holdings tanked 2.45 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.18 percent, KEPCO plunged 3.39 percent, Hyundai Mobis perked 0.17 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 1.58 percent and Kia Motors declined 1.62 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages were flat for much of Tuesday before a late push nudged them up into the green at the close.

The Dow gained 135.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 45,418.07, while the NASDAQ added 94.98 points or 0.44 percent to close at 21,544.27 and the S&P 500 rose 26.62 points or 0.41 percent to end at 6,465.94.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader due to report its second quarter results later today. Traders are also keeping an eye on the latest developments in Washington after President Donald Trump said he is removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook from her position. Trump accused her of making false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.

Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to impose "substantial additional tariffs" on countries that do not remove digital taxes and related regulations that harm U.S. tech companies.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Tuesday, reflecting concerns about erratic U.S. trade policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery tumbled $1.55 or 2.4 percent to $63.25 a barrel.