KOSPI May Find Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 20 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,690-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key corporate and inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to also hug the unchanged line.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials, technology stocks and automobile producers were mitigated by support from the chemical and oil companies.

For the day, the index fell 8.76 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 2,689.25. Volume was 259.7 million shares worth 7.95 trillion won. There were 434 gainers and 423 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tanked 2.77 percent, while KB Financial shed 0.79 percent, Hana Financial plunged 4.07 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.39 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 1.81 percent, LG Electronics slumped 0.60 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 2.56 percent, Naver retreated 1.64 percent, LG Chem gained 0.63 percent, Lotte Chemical improved 0.47 percent, S-Oil added 0.47 percent, SK Innovation accelerated 3.10 percent, POSCO perked 0.29 percent, SK Telecom was up 0.18 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.94 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 0.23 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.80 percent and Kia Motors skidded 0.97 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is flat to positive as the major averages straddled the unchanged line throughout Tuesday's trade before finally finishing barely higher.

The Dow rose 10.00 points or 0.02 percent to finish at a record 41,250.50, while the NASDAQ added 29.05 points or 0.16 percent to close at 17,754.82 and the S&P 500 perked 8.96 points or 0.16 percent to end at 5,625.80.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling due to release its fiscal second quarter results later today.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, on Friday.

While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after three successive days of strong gains, consolidating ahead of supply data due out later today. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for October slumped $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $75.53 a barrel.