The South Korea stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, plunging more than 160 points or 6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,520-point plateau although its expected to find traction on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower again on Tuesday as losses from the technology and industrial sectors were mitigated by support from the financial shares.
For the day, the index shed 12.50 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 2,523.43 after trading between 2,522.48 and 2,544.83. Volume was 341.2 million shares worth 8.3 trillion won. There were 531 decliners and 342 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial advanced 0.89 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.73 percent, Hana Financial added 0.49 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 1.93 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 3.20 percent, LG Electronics slumped 1.16 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.96 percent, Naver spiked 2.58 percent, LG Chem sank 0.97 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.66 percent, S-Oil eased 0.17 percent, SK Innovation rallied 1.48 percent, POSCO perked 0.15 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.35 percent, KEPCO shed 0.69 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.47 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.65 percent and Kia Motors shed 0.60 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and bounced back and forth across the line before finishing on opposite sides.
The Dow shed 92.63 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 40,736.96, while the NASDAQ jumped 141.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 17,025.88 and the S&P 500 added 24.47 points or 0.45 percent to end at 5,495.52.
The volatility seen over the course of the trading day came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched consumer and producer price inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserves monetary policy meeting next week.
The Fed is almost universally expected to begin lowering interest rates next week, but there is some debate about if the rate cut will be 25 basis points or 50.
Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday, ahead of the inflation data and on concerns over the health of the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery stumbled $2.43 or 3.54 percent to finish at $66.28 per barrel.