South Korea Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's Labor Day holiday, the South Korea stock market had moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 15 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,500-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the FOMC's rate decision on Wednesday. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOPSI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financials and technology stocks, weakness from the industrials and mixed performances from the oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index rose 5.72 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 2,501.53 after trading between 2,489.58 and 2,517.13. Volume was 762.56 million shares worth 13.64 trillion won. There were 448 decliners and 423 gainers 448.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.14 percent, while KB Financial soared 2.59 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.72 percent, Samsung Electronics strengthened 1.39 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 2.12 percent, LG Electronics climbed 1.49 percent, SK Hynix improved 0.79 percent, Naver spiked 2.18 percent, LG Chem eased 0.13 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.30 percent, S-Oil rallied 2.33 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 3.08 percent, POSCO surrendered 2.58 percent, SK Telecom gained 0.74 percent, KEPCO fell 0.37 percent, Hyundai Mobis retreated 1.81 percent, Hyundai Motor tanked 2.23 percent and Kia Motors plunged 2.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative after the major averages spent most of Monday in positive territory before a late slide saw them finish slightly in the red.

The Dow shed 46.46 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 34,051.70, while the NASDAQ lost 13.99 points or 0.11 percent to close at 12,212.60 and the S&P 500 eased 1.61 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,167.87.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in April. Also, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in U.S construction spending in March.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday, weighed down by concerns about economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.12 or 1.5 percent at $75.66 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will see April figures for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 3.8 percent on year after adding 0.2 percent on month and 4.2 percent on year in March.