Asian stock markets faced a downturn on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi experiencing a significant 6.6% drop. The decline was primarily driven by the Bank of Korea’s unexpected interest rate hike and substantial losses in the technology sector. Notably, shares of SK Hynix plummeted by 11.2%, while Samsung Electronics saw an 8.2% decrease.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also fell by 2.9%, impacted by decreases in chip-related stocks, including Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex witnessed a modest decline of 0.3% as investors awaited the earnings report from chipmaker TSMC. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped by 0.9%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly lower, maintaining the overall regional trend.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index diverged from this pattern, rising by 1.7%. The increase was bolstered by Alibaba’s gains following China’s approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service, which utilizes Alibaba’s Qwen model. This positive movement in Hong Kong provided a contrast to the broader declines across other Asian markets.
In the commodities market, oil prices dipped slightly but remained high due to ongoing geopolitical tensions. Brent crude decreased by 0.4%, settling at $84.55 per barrel, while US crude saw a 0.2% reduction to $79.34 per barrel. Despite the decrease, concerns over potential disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to underpin oil prices.
Conversely, US stock markets closed higher in the previous trading session. The rise was attributed to easing inflation data and robust corporate earnings, providing some positive momentum amid the global market fluctuations.