BusinessMarkets

Tepid industrial data and political turmoil were shrugged off by South Korea stocks, while Jeju Air shares were driven to a record low.

Share
Share

Asia-Pacific markets were observed to be mixed on the penultimate trading day of the year, following a decline reported on Wall Street on Friday.

In South Korea, a rise of 0.91% was registered by the Kospi, while the Kosdaq was increased by 1.74% on Monday, even as political turmoil and weak industrial data were grappled with by the country.

The deadliest air disaster in South Korea’s history was witnessed on Sunday when 179 lives were claimed as a Jeju Air plane was crashed into a wall at Muan International Airport, bursting into flames.

An urgent safety inspection of the nation’s airline operation system was instructed by South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok to be carried out after recovery efforts for the Jeju Air crash are completed.

Jeju Air shares were driven to an all-time low on Monday, according to FactSet data, with a decrease of 8.53% recorded. Volatility was experienced by other Korean airline stocks, as Korean Air slipped 1%, and budget airlines T’way Air and Jin Air fell by 3.23% and 2.12%, respectively. A climb of over 13% was reported for Air Busan.

A contraction of 0.7% in South Korea’s industrial output was recorded on a monthly basis in November, surpassing the 0.4% decline expected by Reuters. An annual rise of 0.1% was noted, falling short of the 0.4% climb anticipated by Reuters, and contrasting with October’s reported growth of 6.3%.

Political turmoil was deepened in South Korea as the impeachment of acting President Han Duck-soo was passed by the country’s parliament on December 27, following the impeachment of Yoon due to a brief martial law decree. An arrest warrant for Yoon was reportedly sought by the country’s investigation agency on Monday.

In Japan, a decline of 0.82% in the Nikkei 225 and a fall of 0.30% in the Topix were recorded.

A slower rate of contraction in Japan’s factory activity was observed in December, as the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was raised to 49.6, slightly exceeding November’s reading of 49.0 and marking the softest contraction in three months. However, the figure remained below the 50 threshold, which indicates contraction.

“Neutrality was approached in the headline reading, with softer reductions in both production and new order intakes being observed,” it was noted by Usamah Bhatti at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

A decline of 0.51% was recorded by Australia’s S&P/ASX 200.

A rise of 0.15% was noted in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was observed to have climbed by 0.53%.

Share

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles
BusinessEngineeringMedia / Entertainment

Apple Set to Launch Revamped iPhone SE Next Week, Featuring New Design and Enhanced Features

Cupertino,California: Apple is gearing up for a major reveal, with sources confirming...

BusinessEnergyEngineering

Baltic States Disconnect from Russian Power Grid, Move Toward EU Energy Integration

Riga, Latvia – In a historic move, the Baltic nations of Estonia,...

BusinessPharma

Risks from Online Pharmacies Highlighted in US ‘Notorious Markets’ Report

The United States has released its latest “notorious markets” report, which draws...

banking and FinanceBusinessEconomy

UN Predicts Global Growth to Hold Steady at 2.8% in 2025

The UN forecasts that global economic growth will remain at 2.8% in...

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay in the loop by subscribing to our monthly newsletter