Losing Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 40 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,560-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is one of caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision and statement later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index shed 15.51 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 2,559.21 after trading between 2,555.46 and 2,583.25. Volume was 455.9 million shares worth 7.6 trillion won. There were 577 decliners and 302 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial sank 0.93 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 1.75 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.35 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.57 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.59 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.04 percent, SK Hynix and KEPCO both rose 0.17 percent, Naver dropped 0.90 percent, LG Chem plunged 3.66 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.73 percent, S-Oil slid 0.37 percent, SK Innovation slumped 0.24 percent, POSCO stumbled 1.66 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.20 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 0.85 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.52 percent and Kia Company was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat, tumbled early and then saw a late recovery to finish with only modest losses.

The Dow shed 106.57 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 34,517.73, while the NASDAQ lost 32.05 points or 0.23 percent to close at 13,678.19 and the S&P 500 fell 9.58 points or 0.22 percent to end at 4,443.95.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders remained on edge ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement and the central bank's projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated by a Commerce Department report showing a sharp pullback in U.S. housing starts in August. Also, the Commerce Department said building permits surged more than expected in August.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday after posting gains in the three previous sessions to touch a 10-month high. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.28 or 0.3 percent at $91.20 a barrel.