Thursday saw a general downturn in Asian stock markets, with South Korea’s Kospi leading the decline with a significant 6.6% drop. This downturn was primarily driven by the Bank of Korea’s unexpected interest rate hike, which placed additional pressure on the market. The technology sector was hit hard, with SK Hynix experiencing an 11.2% decrease and Samsung Electronics falling by 8.2%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 2.9%, largely due to decreases in companies related to chip production, such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex saw a modest decline of 0.3% as investors awaited the earnings report from chipmaker TSMC. China’s Shanghai Composite also experienced a drop of 0.9%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly lower.
Contrasting with the regional trend, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 1.7%. This positive movement was supported by gains in Alibaba’s stock, following the approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service in China, which utilizes Alibaba’s Qwen model. This development offered a rare bright spot in an otherwise negative day for Asian markets.
Oil prices saw a slight decline, though they remained elevated due to ongoing geopolitical tensions. Brent crude decreased by 0.4% to $84.55 a barrel, and US crude fell by 0.2% to $79.34 per barrel. Despite these declines, concerns over potential disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to lend support to oil prices.
In contrast to the declines in Asia, US stock markets closed higher overnight. This positive outcome was attributed to easing inflation data and robust corporate earnings, which provided a boost to investor confidence despite the challenging global landscape.