KOSPI May Find Support At Key 6,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, plummeting more than 970 points or 14.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 6,030-point plateau and it's overdue for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on rising crude oil and treasuries, and also ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished savagely lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, although the technology and financial sectors were hit especially hard.

For the day, the index cratered 348.89 points or 5.46 percent to finish at 6,035.35. Volume was 399.87 million shares worth 26.79 trillion won. There were 628 decliners and 246 gainers.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and largely hugged the line, finally ending slightly under water.

The Dow dropped 180.45 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 51,670.10, while the NASDAQ sank 41.52 points or 0.15 percent to end at 27,204.38 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.79 points or 0.02 percent to close at 7,805.45.

Traders were reluctant to make moves ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price data later today.

The data may have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month; CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 78.4 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged after last month's quarter-point rate hike.

The choppy trading on Wall Street also came as traders reacted to mixed earnings news from financial giants Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS).

In the bond market, treasuries moved to the upside following the Columbus Day holiday on Monday. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, has fallen 2.9 basis points to 5.215 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday thanks to persistent tensions in the Middle East and supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $1.08 or 1.15 percent to $94.82 per barrel.