Asian stock markets experienced a downturn on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi leading the decline by a sharp 6.6%. This fall was primarily driven by the Bank of Korea’s unexpected interest rate hike and substantial losses in the technology sector. Notably, SK Hynix shares plunged 11.2%, while Samsung Electronics saw an 8.2% drop.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also faced a significant decrease, losing 2.9% due to downturns in chip-related companies such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.3% as investors awaited the earnings report from chipmaker TSMC. In China, the Shanghai Composite index dipped by 0.9%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended slightly lower.
Contrary to the regional trend, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 1.7%. This increase was largely supported by gains in Alibaba, which benefited from the approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service in China utilizing Alibaba’s Qwen model.
On the commodities front, oil prices saw a slight decline despite ongoing geopolitical tensions. Brent crude decreased by 0.4% to $84.55 a barrel, while US crude slipped 0.2% to $79.34 per barrel. Nevertheless, concerns over potential disruptions to shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz continued to keep oil prices elevated.
In contrast to the mixed performance in Asia, US stock markets concluded higher the previous night. This positive outcome was bolstered by favorable inflation data and robust corporate earnings, providing some optimism amid the global market fluctuations.