South Korea's KOSPI staged a bounce-back on Tuesday, snapping a brutal two-day dive that had wiped ~160 points (4%). The index climbed 11.72 points (+0.30%) to close at 3,857.78, with financials and semiconductors leading the charge—Samsung Electronics jumped 2.69%, while KEPCO skyrocketed 6.85%. Naver was the main laggard, tanking 3.07%.

The real driver? Wall Street's conviction that rate cuts are coming. The Fed pivot talk is getting louder—CME FedWatch now shows 82.7% odds of another 0.25% cut next month (up from 50.1% last week). Weak US retail sales and crumbling consumer confidence data spooked the bond market enough to trigger the rally.

Wednesday's setup looks solid for Asian markets. Dollar weakness + dovish Fed = risk-on mode. Just watch crude prices—they're under pressure as Ukraine potentially accepts a Russia peace deal, which could cap any energy rally.