US Department of Justice to monitor primary elections in Florida and Wyoming.

South Korean stocks hit a one-month intraday high Tuesday but closed down over 1%, ending a five-day winning streak as government bond yields surged. The most liquid 3-year Korean government bond yield rose 8.5bps to 3.854%; the 10-year yield climbed 9.5bps to 4.395%. Semiconductor names outperformed early after the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose 1.6% overnight, but gains narrowed: Samsung Electronics reversed an intraday high of +4.9% to close down 2.19%, while SK Hynix closed up 1.03% after an intraday high of +8.9%. Analyst Seo Sang-young said early foreign inflows became unstable as rising yields destabilized fund flows and market sentiment.

An adviser to Turkish President ERDOGAN said, regarding the attack in Syria, that Turkey will continue to support Syrian sovereignty.