(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market gave up less than a single point on Tuesday, but that was enough to snap the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than a dozen points or 0.6 percent. The KOSPI remains just beneath the 2,095-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The KOSPI finished barely lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index eased 0.91 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 2,092.69 after trading between 2,088.04 and 2,105.17. Volume was 350.6 million shares worth 3.91 trillion won. There were 419 decliners and 391 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.80 percent, while KB Financial lost 0.70 percent, Hana Financial jumped 1.77 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.39 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.54 percent, LG Display gained 0.29 percent, SK Hynix added 0.12 percent, Samsung SDI sank 0.65 percent, LG Chem was down 0.66 percent, Naver tumbled 2.55 percent, POSCO perked 0.24 percent, SK Telecom dropped 0.84 percent, KEPCO fell 0.59 percent, Hyundai Motors advanced 0.82 percent and Kia Motors soared 3.89 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as stocks showed a lack of direction on Tuesday, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed's rate decision and statement.
The Dow shed 19.26 points or 0.07 percent to end at 27,071.46, while the NASDAQ lost 49.13 points or 0.59 percent to 8,276.85 and the S&P 500 fell 2.53 points or 0.08 percent to 3,036.89.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a wait-and-see approach even though the Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by another quarter point.
Some negative sentiment was generated by reports suggesting a phase one trade deal between the U.S. and China may not be signed by the summit in Chile next month.
A mixed reaction to the latest batch of earnings news also contributed to the lackluster performance, with a notable drop by Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) weighing on the tech-heavy NASDAQ.
In economic news, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence unexpectedly edged lower in October. Also, the National Association of Realtors showed another significant increase in pending home sales in the U.S. in September.
Crude oil futures edged lower on Tuesday amid expectations that data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) will show a jump in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December fell $0.27 or 0.5 percent at $55.54 a barrel, the lowest settlement in a week.
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