AP – Global stocks were mixed yesterday after overnight political drama in South Korea added to regional uncertainties, though the Kospi in Seoul fell less than two per cent.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3 per cent in early trading to 7,278.18, as the minority government was facing a no-confidence vote yesterday in Parliament following a divisive budget debate.
Germany’s DAX added 0.4 per cent to 20,100.80, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.2 per cent to 8,343.17.
The future contract for the S&P 500 edged 0.2 per cent higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 per cent.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the Parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later.
Yesterday, South Korea’s main opposition party called for President Yoon to resign immediately or face impeachment.
Yoon’s move caused the won to plummet to a two-year low against the US dollar, with losses of up to two per cent, the sharpest one-day drop since the market’s seismic reaction to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. The won recovered some of those losses yesterday. The dollar was trading at 1,412.87 won, down from Tuesday’s peak at 1,443.40.
South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.4 per cent lower to 2,464.00. Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company, fell 0.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the country’s financial regulator said they were prepared to deploy KRW10 trillion (USD7.07 billion) into a stock market stabilization fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Elsewhere in the region, China announced on Tuesday it was banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications.
The Shanghai Composite fell 0.4 per cent to 3,364.65.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent to 39,276.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.4 per cent to 8,462.60.
On Tuesday, US stocks tiptoed to more records, tacking a touch more onto what’s already been a stellar year.
The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1 per cent to 6,049.88, setting an all-time high for the 55th time this year.
