The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic as some traders believe the heavy selling in recent sessions has been overdone. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks, oil companies and industrial issues.
For the day, the index sank 27.12 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 2,355.66 after trading between 2,352.76 and 2,389.85. Volume was 395.3 million shares worth 6.7 trillion won. There were 749 decliners and 143 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.56 percent, while KB Financial skidded 1.00 percent, Hana Financial sank 0.77 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.36 percent, Samsung SDI advanced 1.00 percent, LG Electronics dipped 0.22 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.32 percent, Naver dropped 0.91 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.15 percent, S-Oil gained 0.56 percent, SK Innovation lost 0.56 percent, POSCO perked 0.22 percent, SK Telecom tumbled 1.91 percent, KEPCO soared 3.17 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 0.48 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 0.25 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.37 percent and LG Chem was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened lower on Monday, bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before ending in the green.
The Dow jumped 197.26 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 31,019.68, while the NASDAQ jumped 86.62 points or 0.76 percent to close at 11,535.02 and the S&O 500 gained 26.56 points or 0.69 percent to end at 3,899.89.
Trading activity was subdued as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points, although some see an outside chance for a 100 basis point rate hike.
A number of other major central banks around the world are also scheduled to announce their latest monetary policy decisions this week, including the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.
Traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing U.S. homebuilder confidence declined for the ninth consecutive month in September.
Oil prices recovered Monday after falling sharply, rebounding to end on a firm note amid concerns about supplies. A fairly steady dollar amid possible sharp hikes in interest rates limited oil's upside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.62 or 0.7 percent at $85.73 a barrel.