South Korea’s Kospi index erased earlier gains Thursday after touching a record high, following the central bank’s decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5% in line with expectations.
The index fell 0.98% to close at 3,845.56, and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.81% to 872.03.
The Korean won weakened 0.19% against the greenback to 1,434.70, its lowest level since May.
Broader Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s declines on concerns about U.S.-China trade relations.
Trade fears resurfaced after Reutersreported Wednesday stateside that the Trump administration is considering curbs on exports to China that are made with U.S. software, citing a U.S. official and three people briefed by U.S. authorities.
The sources said that the plan, which could cover a wide range of items from laptops to jet engines, might not move forward, however, and that it’s not the only option that’s being discussed.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed lower for the second consecutive session, falling 1.35% to 48,641.61. Meanwhile, the Topix index retreated 0.39% to 3,253.78.
Shares of SoftBank pared earlier losses to end 4.66% lower after it announced plans to issue U.S.-dollar and euro-denominated bonds, according to a filing on the Tokyo stock exchange Thursday, as the company amps up its artificial intelligence investments.
The Japanese conglomerate will issue around $2 billion U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds in two tranches, and about 750 million euros ($870 million) worth of hybrid notes. These will have interest rates between 6.5% and 8.25%.
SoftBank said that the money raised will be used for “general business purposes,” according to a Google translation of the filing.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 closed flat at 9,032.8.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended the day 0.57% higher at 25,927.47, while the mainland’s CSI 300 rose 0.3% to 4,606.34.
India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.83% and the Sensex index was up 0.69%, after coming back from a holiday.
Wall Street declined
U.S. equity futures edged lower in early Asia hours after the three key benchmarks in the U.S. fell Wednesday stateside. Disappointing corporate earnings from companies includingTexas InstrumentsandNetflixalso weighed on the major averages.
Overnight, theDow Jones Industrial Averageclosed lower by 334.33 points, or 0.71%, at 46,590.41. TheS&P 500fell 0.53% to finish at 6,699.40, while theNasdaq Compositeshed 0.93% to settle at 22,740.40.
At session lows, the Dow was down more than 400 points, or about 1%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq decreased 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
Source : cnbc
