South Korean Shares Climb as Chipmakers Prepare Quarterly Reports

South Korea's Kospi index closed 3.1 percent higher at 5,638.34 on Tuesday, lifted by gains in semiconductor shares, as investors across global markets waited on corporate earnings and central bank decisions. SK Hynix shares rose 5.2 percent and Samsung Electronics climbed 4.2 percent.

In early trading in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1 percent to 10,664.58, Germany's DAX slipped 0.1 percent to 25,373.71, and the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.3 percent to 7,824.83. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 1.7 percent to 63,268.37, with testing equipment maker Advantest jumping 9.6 percent and SoftBank Group climbing 5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7 percent to 23,041.32 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.3 percent to 3,648.30.

Data released Tuesday showed South Korea's economy grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the July-September period, a figure described as better than expected, with strong global demand for semiconductors driving growth. Traders were also watching a closed-door meeting in Beijing of top leaders of China's ruling Communist Party for any major announcements.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent, pulling within 1.8 percent of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8 percent and the Dow added 0.3 percent. Nvidia rose 2.4 percent, recovering some of its drop from three consecutive losing weeks, its longest such streak since June.

SK Hynix is set to release its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, a day before Samsung Electronics reports its results. Samsung has estimated its operating profit for the last quarter will be up nearly eight-fold from a year earlier. Alphabet and Microsoft report their latest quarterly results Wednesday, with Amazon following Thursday. The Federal Reserve last month raised the fed funds rate for the first time in three years.

In other trading Tuesday, Brent crude oil rose 0.7 percent to $111.54 a barrel and U.S. benchmark crude gained 0.7 percent to $102.47 per barrel. The dollar traded at 157.75 Japanese yen, up from 157.50 yen, while the euro slipped to $1.1154 from $1.1176.