(RTTNews) - After a flat start and a subsequent upward move on Tuesday, the South Korean stock market drifted lower, and, despite edging off its lows, is currently seen struggling to hold above the unchanged line due to lack of support at higher levels.

The benchmark KOSPI index, which fell to 1,552 after an early surge to 1,565, is currently down with a loss of 3.1 points, or 0.2%, at 1,556.

Bank stocks are down sharply. Korea Exchange Bank is down 2.6%, Woori Finance is losing about 3.7%, Shinhan Financial is trading lower by 2.2% and KB Financial is down with a 1.3% loss.

Among tech stocks, heavyweight Samsung Electronics is up 0.7%, LG Display LCD is trading 1.2% up and Hynix Semiconductor is gaining a modest 0.3%, while LG Electronics is down in negative territory with a loss of 1.4%.

In the automobile space, Kia Motors, Ssangyong Motor and Hyundai Motora are trading up 1.25%-2.5% over their previous closing prices.

Oil, steel, telecom and airlines stocks are trading mixed. Among shipping stocks, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and STX Pan Ocean are trading higher, while Daewoo Shipbuilding is exhibiting weakness.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai and Indonesia are up with notable gains. Singapore is trading slightly higher, while Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Taiwan are trading weak. The Japanese stock market is closed for a national holiday. Stock markets across the region had closed lower on Monday, tracking negative cues from Wall Street.

On Wall Street, stocks posted solid gains on Monday amid a slew of economic reports and some Fed comments on the financial sector. While data on manufacturing activity in the month of October and the surge of the pending home sales index lifted sentiment after the previous session’s setback, concerns voiced by Federal Reserve’s associate director about the state of the financial system capped gains to an extent.

The Dow closed up 76.7 points at 9,789.4, the Nasdaq edged up 4.1 points to 2,049.2 and the S&P 500 closed up 6.7 points at 1,042.9.

Major European markets closed on the upside on Monday. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 index moved up 1.2% and 0.9% respectively, while the German DAX index gained 0.3%.

Crude oil finished higher on Monday after a choppy ride with some encouraging manufacturing data offsetting a decline in U.S. equities. Light sweet crude for December delivery closed at US$78.13 per barrel, up 13 cents on the session.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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