Commercial and residential buildings are illuminated at dawn in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. South Korea has prepared a financial support program of 75.9 trillion won ($56.97 billion) for companies increasing investment in key sectors as well as small businesses struggling with the impact of high interest rates.
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Asia-Pacific markets are set to open mixed on Thursday, as all three major stock indexes on Wall Street notched record highs, buoyed by a tech rally and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Investors in Asia will continue to monitor the political situation in South Korea. Less than a day after he declared martial law, lawmakers in the country filed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
South Korea released its revised gross domestic product in the third quarter, which showed the economy expanding 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, and 1.5% on an annual basis. The figure was the same as advanced estimates.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.11% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,650 and its counterpart in Osaka at 39,630 compared to the previous close of 39,276.39.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 19,622, lower than the HSI’s last close of 19,742.46.
In the U.S. on Wednesday, all three major indexes hit all-time highs during the session and closed at records, with tech shares leading the gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 308.51 points, or 0.69%, to 45,014.04, crossing the 45,000 threshold for the first time.
The S&P 500 broad market index gained 0.61% to close at 6086.49, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.3% to close at 19,735.12.
A rally came as investors digested Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments Wednesday that the recent strength of the U.S. economy means U.S. central bank can afford to be “a little more cautious.”
Investors are awaiting the U.S. November unemployment report, due Friday, which would provide some insights into the Fed’s future policy moves. The next rate decision comes in two weeks, and markets are pricing in a roughly 78% chance of a quarter percentage point rate cut by the Federal Open Market Committee, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
