The Asia-Pacific market saw a notable decline on Wednesday as investors used the latest unemployment data from South Korea. The South Korean government released its August unemployment report, showing a slight uptick in job rates, which fueled investors’ uncertainty and led to a cautious approach across regional stock exchanges.
This happened even though the key Wall Street benchmarks rose ahead of the U.S. August consumer inflation report. Traders of the Asia-Pacific region access economic data from Japan and South Korea. The South Korean report suggested that unemployment fell to 2.4% in August, the lowest level since 1999.
A Reuters Tankan survey from Japan shows that business confidence in big manufacturers slipped to plus 4 in September from plus 10 in August. On the other hand, sentiments for non-manufactures declined for the third consecutive month to plus 23 from plus 24.
Junko Nakagawa, a Bank of Japan board member, said that the central bank would continue to raise interest rates if the economy and inflation met the bank’s forecast.
“When considering adjusting the degree of monetary easing further, we must look back upon market developments after our policy shift in July and carefully assess how the market’s changes affect our economy and price outlook,” she said.
In addition to the South Korean unemployment rate, investors also assessed the U.S. presidential Debate between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris that shook up the Asian market.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.72%, and Topix was 0.84% down, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%. However, the small-cap Kosdaq of South Korea rose 1.61%. Talking about Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2% and Hong Kong Hang Seng index declined 1.2%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 was down marginally.
Traders in Asia could be “positioning ahead of potential U.S. dollar’s volatility,” Leung said. However, markets are still processing the broader uncertainty, especially with funding stress already impacting Japan and South Korea.”
U.S. stocks faltered in Tuesday’s trading session, with two of three major indexes ending in green and one in red.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.45%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.84%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.23%.
