Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday with political turmoil in South Korea spurring volatility, as President Yoon Suk Yeol rescinded his earlier martial law decree, calming some investor concerns.
By 11:20 am AEDT (12:20 am GMT), the ASX 200 had dropped 35.5 points or 0.4% to 8,459.8, and the KOSPI 200 fell 29.2 points or 1.2% to 2,469.9. Conversely, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 110.3 points or 0.3% to 39,348.6.
Amid market fears, the Bank of Korea announced plans for an extraordinary monetary policy board meeting at 9 am KST (10 am AEDT). Reports from Reuters indicated that South Korea’s government would inject unlimited liquidity into financial markets to stabilise conditions.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at new records, driven by rising expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in two weeks.
Futures trading suggests a 71% probability of a 0.25% rate cut in December, up from 59% a week ago. If implemented, it would mark the Fed’s third consecutive cut in 2024, lowering rates by a full percentage point for the year.
The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%.
In commodities, Brent crude oil surged 2.4% to US$73.57 a barrel, while gold edged up 0.2% to US$2,643.78 per ounce.
In China, markets were mixed. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4% to 3,378.8, while the CSI 300 gained 0.1% to 3,951.9.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also climbed 1.0% to 19,746.3.
Indian equities also performed well, with the BSE SENSEX gaining 1.3% to 80,845.8.
European markets ended the day higher, with Germany’s DAX rising 0.4% to 20,016.8 and France’s CAC 40 up 0.3% to 7,255.4. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 also gained 0.6% to 8,359.4.
