Asian stock markets experienced a downturn on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi leading the decline, plummeting 6.6%. This substantial drop in South Korea was primarily driven by an unexpected interest rate hike from the Bank of Korea, alongside significant losses in the technology sector. Notably, SK Hynix saw its shares fall by 11.2%, and Samsung Electronics experienced an 8.2% drop.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index decreased by 2.9%, as chip-related stocks such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group faced downward pressure. Taiwan’s Taiex slipped slightly by 0.3% as investors awaited the earnings report from chip giant TSMC. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.9%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day with a modest decline.
Contrary to the regional trend, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 1.7%, bolstered by gains in Alibaba. This surge came after China’s approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service, which utilizes Alibaba’s Qwen model, providing a boost to the index.
Despite ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran, oil prices saw a slight decline. Brent crude decreased by 0.4%, settling at $84.55 per barrel, while US crude dipped by 0.2% to $79.34 per barrel. However, concerns over possible disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continued to keep oil prices relatively high.
In contrast to the Asian markets, US stock markets closed on a positive note the previous night, buoyed by easing inflation figures and robust corporate earnings reports, offering a more optimistic outlook in the face of global market volatility.
