A person watches a TV screen broadcasting a news report on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and the following announcement that he will lift the martial law, after parliamentary vote, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Dec 4, 2024. HONG KONG: South Korean stocks sank on Wednesday while the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol
The Kospi index ended down more than one percent, having shed as much as 2.3 per cent at the open, as traders fretted over the impact of Yoon declaring South Korea's first martial law in more than four decades. The won tumbled more than 3 per cent to a two-year low of 1,444 per dollar after the declaration, then bounced back to around 1,410 following the U-turn.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who also holds the economy portfolio, said financial authorities will keep international partners informed about developments. The losses in Seoul came on a mixed day for Asia markets, with Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta rising but Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila falling. Hong Kong was marginally lower.
Even Paris eked out gains despite the brewing political crisis in France, where opposition lawmakers vowed to topple the three-month-old minority government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote owing to a budget standoff.