South Korea GDP, yen weakens
Commercial and residential buildings are illuminated at dawn in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. South Korea has prepared a financial support program of 75.9 trillion won ($56.97 billion) for companies increasing investment in key sectors as well as small businesses struggling with the impact of high interest rates.
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Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Thursday after U.S. stocks dropped overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst day in more than a month.
In Asia, South Korea narrowly avoided a technical recession with its third-quarter GDP growing 0.1% quarter on quarter, following a 0.2% contraction in the second quarter. It, however, missed Reuters estimates of 0.5% growth.
On a year-on-year basis, South Korea’s economy grew 1.5%, also slower than the 2% increase expected by economists.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi fell 0.72% to end at 2,581.03, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.42% to 734.59, its lowest level since Sep. 13.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the notable outlier, reversing losses to gain 0.1% and close at 38,143.29, but the Topix lost 0.05% and ended at 2,635.57.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.12% to 8,206.3.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 1.35% down in it’s final hour of trading, while mainland China’s CSI 300 saw a larger loss of 1.12% and closed at 3,928.83, snapping a four day winning streak.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell, with both the Dow and S&P 500 notching their third straight losing session, weighed down by higher Treasury yields.
The S&P 500 lost 0.92%, and the 30-stock Dow plunged 0.96%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6%.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
