Asian Equities

• Asian equities rallied on Thursday, led by South Korea's KOSPI index, which surged nearly 6% during intraday trading. • The surge was primarily driven by a more than 5% jump in SK Hynix shares following the company's announcement of a stock buyback. • This movement highlights the dominant influence of technology companies on the indices of major Asian economies, including Japan, South Korea, and China.

• Asian equity markets declined today as a sharp selloff in semiconductor shares triggered a broader downturn across the region. • The bearish sentiment was driven by a combination of rising bond yields, escalating oil prices, and heightened Middle East tensions. • Investors are retreating from growth stocks due to mounting concerns over global inflation, increasing debt levels, and the impact of US monetary policy.

• Asian equities declined, with the South Korean Kospi leading the drop due to renewed selling pressure on semiconductor shares. • Crude oil prices continued to rise, driven by the impact of fresh military strikes in the Middle East. • Government bonds in Australia and New Zealand opened higher following the release of recent US inflation data.

• U.S. stock markets closed lower Thursday as an energy shock continued weighing on investor sentiment, with the S&P 500 falling 0.27%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.44%, and the Nasdaq Composite declining 0.28%. • Commodity-linked stocks experienced severe selloffs: gold fell 4.94%, aluminum dropped over 5%, mining shares plummeted with Hycroft Mining sliding 12.4% and Century Aluminum falling 10.3%. • Asian markets showed mixed performance Friday, with South Korea's Kospi rising 0.6% and China's Shanghai Composite edging 0.2% higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.6%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%, and Taiwan's Taiex declined 0.2%, with Japan's markets closed for a holiday.