Most Asian markets declined amid the aftermath of South Korea’s brief declaration of martial law. Investors are also focused on upcoming U.S. payroll figures, which could influence expectations of an interest rate cut later this month.
In South Korea, the parliament is debating the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law. Concerns about a possible second declaration of martial law caused the Korean won to drop as much as 1% and the Kospi index to fall 1.8%. However, losses were pared following suspected intervention by authorities in the foreign exchange market.
In contrast, Chinese shares climbed to three-week highs as investors bought into technology stocks ahead of a high-level policy meeting next week, which will outline economic goals for the coming year. Both China’s blue-chip index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3%, leading gains in the region.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.8%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan recovered earlier losses to post a 0.2% gain, buoyed by the rally in Chinese equities.
Wall Street took a breather from its post-election rally, with stocks retreating from record levels ahead of key U.S. jobs data. The S&P 500 edged down 0.2% to 6,075.11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 44,765.71, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2% to 19,800.26.
Bitcoin’s price has surged over 50% since Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election on November 5. On Thursday, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies exceeded $3.7 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data, surpassing the valuation of Apple, the world’s most valuable company.
In the bond market, yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes eased to 4.175% from 4.196% on Wednesday.
