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 extended losses on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s moves ahead of a slew of economic data from the region on Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 2%, while the broader Topix dropped 1.4% in early trading.
South Korea’s Kospi shed nearly 1%, and the smaller cap Kosdaq slipped 0.6%.
Japan and South Korea will release industrial production figures on Friday, and China will release the official purchasing managers index for May. Inflation data for Japan’s capital city of Tokyo will also be released.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended declines from the previous session and fell 0.7%.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,409, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,477.01.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell, pressured by rising Treasury yields. The 10-year Treasury note yield ticked higher for a second day, last trading above 4.6%.
Higher yields can lower the multiples investors are willing to pay for stocks, drive up borrowing costs, hurt consumer spending and make T-bills and money market funds more attractive.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.06%, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.74%, marking its first negative session of the previous three. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.58%, as Nvidia’s advance mitigated losses for the technology-heavy index.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
