Asian stock markets mostly faced declines on Thursday, with South Korea’s Kospi experiencing a notable 6.6% drop. This decline was largely driven by an unexpected interest rate hike from the Bank of Korea and significant losses in technology shares. Among the hardest hit were SK Hynix, which plummeted 11.2%, and Samsung Electronics, which fell by 8.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index also retreated, losing 2.9% as investors pulled back from chip-related stocks. Key players like Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and SoftBank Group all saw declines. In Taiwan, the Taiex index edged down 0.3% in anticipation of chipmaker TSMC’s upcoming earnings report. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite recorded a 0.9% decrease, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished slightly lower.
Contrary to the regional trend, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index managed to rise by 1.7%. This gain was largely attributed to Alibaba’s performance, which saw a boost following the approval of Apple Intelligence’s AI service in China, utilizing Alibaba’s Qwen model.
In the energy sector, oil prices saw a slight reduction but remained high amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions. Brent crude decreased by 0.4% to $84.55 per barrel, and US crude fell 0.2% to $79.34 per barrel. The persistent concerns over potential disruptions to shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz continued to support oil prices.
Meanwhile, US stock markets closed higher in the previous session, buoyed by easing inflation data and robust corporate earnings reports, providing a contrast to the subdued performance seen across much of Asia.