Asian stock markets mostly experienced declines on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi taking a significant hit of 6.6%. This drop was largely driven by a surprise interest rate increase from the Bank of Korea and substantial losses in technology shares. Notably, SK Hynix’s stock plummeted by 11.2%, while Samsung Electronics saw an 8.2% decrease.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell by 2.9%, impacted by downturns in chip-related companies such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiex slipped by 0.3% as investors awaited the earnings report from chipmaker TSMC. China’s Shanghai Composite also saw a decline of 0.9%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed slightly lower.
In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index defied the regional trend, rising 1.7%. This increase was supported by Alibaba’s gains following the approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service in China, which utilizes Alibaba’s Qwen model.
Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, oil prices edged lower. Brent crude decreased by 0.4% to $84.55 per barrel, and U.S. crude saw a slight decline of 0.2% to $79.34 per barrel. Nevertheless, concerns about potential disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to keep oil prices relatively high.
On the other side of the globe, U.S. stock markets closed higher overnight, buoyed by easing inflation data and strong corporate earnings, providing a stark contrast to the declines seen in many Asian markets.