View of Busan Tower and the city at Yongdusan Park. Nampo-dong, Busan, South Korea.
Yang Junan | Moment | Getty Images
Shares of Korean automakers rose on Tuesday after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that a 15% cut in U.S. auto tariffs on South Korea will go into effect retroactively from Nov. 1.
“We will also eliminate tariffs on aircraft parts and ‘eliminate’ South Korea’s reciprocal tariffs to be consistent with Japan and the EU,” Lutnick said, according to the Commerce Department’s X post.
Automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors rose 4.52% and 4.19%, respectively.
Korean Kospi The Kosdaq rose 1.9% to close at 3,994.93, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.65% to 928.42.
South Korea’s headline inflation rate rose 2.4% in November from the same month a year earlier, government data on Tuesday showed, beating the 2.35% rise expected by economists in a Reuters poll. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food and energy prices, rose 2% year-on-year.
The latest figures are unchanged from October’s inflation figures, supporting the central bank’s insistence on keeping interest rates on hold. The Bank of Korea kept its policy interest rate unchanged at 2.5% for the fourth consecutive time at its meeting last Thursday.
Asia-Pacific benchmark indexes were mixed on Tuesday.
Japanese benchmark Nikkei Stock Average The index ended flat at 49,303.45. The TOPIX index also ended at 3,341.06, slightly above the flat line.
Industrial robot manufacturers were among the top risers in the Nikkei Stock Average. fanucrose 6.51% after announcing a partnership with Nvidia to improve its products with AI. NGK Insulators Co., Ltd.diesel particulate filter manufacturing, advanced 7.2%, electrical equipment company Fujikura Added 1.56%.
on the other hand, Softbank Shares fell more than 5% for the third straight session of losses as concerns about AI’s valuation continued to grow. The tech conglomerate’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, said at the FII Priorities Asia Forum on Monday that he was “very keen to sell Nvidia shares” to finance the company’s AI investments, including OpenAI.
“I wish I had unlimited money…I just needed more money to invest in OpenAI and our opportunities,” he said.
The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose to 1.88%, the highest level since June 2008, as expectations grew that the Bank of Japan would raise interest rates as soon as this month.
Meanwhile, the 20-year government bond yield was 2.915%, the highest level since 1999, and the 30-year government bond yield was 3.411%, a record high.
australian ASX/S&P200 It rose 0.17% to end at 8,579.7.
hong kong Hang Seng Index Mainland China’s CSI 300 index fell 0.48%. shares of alibaba The group rose nearly 3% in Hong Kong, marking its third straight session of gains, after the tech giant launched Quark artificial intelligence glasses in China on Nov. 27.
India’s Nifty 50 index fell 0.44%, while the BSE Sensex index fell 0.42%. Bajaj Housing Finance was among the top decliners in the Nifty 50 stocks, falling 5 per cent after its parent company Bajaj Finance announced to sell up to 2 per cent stake in its subsidiaries.
bitcoin price
U.S. stock futures were little changed during Asian hours after all three major indexes ended a five-day streak of gains as a slide in cryptocurrencies soured market sentiment.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.53% to end at 6,812.63 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.38% to end at 23,275.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 427.09 points, or 0.9%, to settle at 47,289.33.
all night long Bitcoin Shares fell about 6% to below $86,000, hurting investor sentiment and putting pressure on the overall stock market. As of 3:02 pm Singapore time (Tuesday 2:02 am ET), it was trading at $87,094.03. The digital currency has struggled to maintain the $90,000 level since falling below the $90,000 level for the first time since April late last month.
Other virtual currency related stocks coinbase and strategywhich also fell in U.S. trading hours on Monday.
Shares of artificial intelligence stocks Broadcom and Super Microcomputer fell more than 4% and 1%, respectively, indicating an increase in profit-taking in the sector.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
