South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 2.9% in January, easing from its three-year high of 3.7% in the month before.South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 2.9% in January, easing from its three-year high of 3.7% in the month before.
People walking through the neon lit night streets of Sinchon in the heart of Seoul, South Korea’s vibrant capital city.
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Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday, after Wall Street rose overnight as President Donald Trump signed a reciprocal tariffs plan, but did not enact the levies immediately.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 Index rose 0.65%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 1.86%, extending its gains from the previous session.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.37% and the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.12%.
The country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 2.9% in January, easing from its three-year high of 3.7% in the month before.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading down 0.68%, while the broader Topix index lost 0.14%.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 lost 0.81%, while the BSE Sensex index was down 0.46%, in choppy trading.
The South Asian country is expecting its wholesale price inflation figures for January later in the day. The index is expected to rise 2.5% in January, more than the 2.37% growth in the previous month, according to LSEG data.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.19% higher at 8,555.80.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s economy expanded by 4.4% in 2024, its fastest growth since 2021, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry shows. GDP was up 5% year on year in the fourth-quarter of 2024, surpassing the 4.7% growth rate expected by Reuters.
Investors have been watching the city-state’s Straits Times Index which hit an all-time high at the start of the week. The 30-stock benchmark, however, fell 0.17%, following the GDP announcement.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s economy grew 5.1% in 2024, data from Bank Negara shows. Its GDP expanded 5% in the last quarter of the year, better than the 4.8% estimated by Reuters.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks rose following fresh inflation data and updates on U.S. tariff plans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 342.87 points, or 0.77%, to 44,711.43. The S&P 500 climbed 1.04% to 6,115.07, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.50% to 19,945.64.
The Dow had hit session highs after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to examine reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations. As part of this, he noted that the U.S. will treat other countries’ non-tariff policies as unfair trade practices that warrant tariffs in response.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Alex Harring and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.