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  • Friday, 10 March 2017

    South Korean stocks up after President Park's impeachment ruling

    Asian markets open mixed


    South Korean equities rose slightly amid growing political uncertainty after President Park Geun-hye's impeachment ruling.

    The benchmark Kospi gained 0.17 percent after the Constitutional Court upheld a parliament vote made late last year to impeach Park. She will now leave the office immediately and snap elections must be held within 60 days for her replacement.





    Large crowds of supporters and critics of Park gathered in downtown Seoul in rowdy and intense sloganeering, with thousands waving the national flag and clamoring on top of buses. The police stepped up security in the central areas and mobilized more than 20,000 officers to stand guard.

    This decision will drive South Korea "into near-term political uncertainty and the likely further escalation of economic risks facing South Korea," said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit, in a Friday note.

    Biswas added that the country is "entering a political vacuum at a time when tensions with North Korea have escalated to crisis point" and when relations with China are tense.

    South Korean companies doing business in China have faced pressure, including boycotts and cyber-attacks, over the U.S.-deployed anti-missile defense system which Beijing views as a threat. China exports account for about 25.1 percent of total South Korean exports globally, according to data from IHS Markit.

    Meanwhile, the won opened weaker in onshore trade at 1,161 per dollar versus 1,158.1 at the previous close. At 11:45 am HK/SIN, the won was stronger against the dollar, at 1,157.4.


    The Shanghai composite was down 0.03 perecnt and the Shenzhen composite gained 0.253 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.08 percent.

    China's Fosun Pharmaceuticals is holding early-stage talks with buyout funds including CVC about a potential joint bid for German generic drugmaker Stada, Reuters reported. Fosun Pharma shares were up 0.86 percent.


    Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 was sharply higher by 1.25 percent as the yen weakened against the greenback.

    Toshiba shares plunged 4 percent during early trade before sliding back to trade up 1.46 percent, on concerns over news that Toshiba's U.S. subsidiary hired bankruptcy attorneys to consider Chapter 11 filing as an option to help with a multi-billion dollar write-down.

    Australia's ASX 200 was in positive territory, up 0.56 percent.

    Another focus for traders is the U.S. nonfarm payrolls, which is due later in the day. The payrolls are a key indicator which will provide hints as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates at its meeting next week.

    "This is the last piece of puzzle when it comes to the US interest rate hike which the Fed is going to make. So far the Fed has adopted a very hawkish tone when it comes to the interest rate hike," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst from ThinkMarkets in a Friday note.

    Nonfarm payrolls in February are expected to have gained 190,000 jobs after shooting up 227,000 in January, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

    Over in the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was nearly flat at 20,858.19, while the S&P 500 was up 0.08 percent at 2,364.87 and the Nasdaq composite was also nearly flat at 5,838.81.




    Symbol
    Name
    Price
    Change
    %Change
    NIKKEINIKKEI19583.53
    264.951.37%
    HSIHSI23504.85
    3.290.01%
    ASX 200S&P/ASX 2005775.60
    34.400.60%
    SHANGHAIShanghai3213.87
    -2.87-0.09%
    KOSPIKOSPI Index2096.89
    5.830.28%
    CNBC 100CNBC 100 ASIA IDX7201.24
    28.300.39%
    Yesterday the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and said it would keep its massive asset-buying program.

    The ECB removed a reference to using all available measures to induce growth and inflation "because the sense of urgency is not there," ECB President Mario Draghi said.

    The comment from suggested that rates are unlikely to fall and might start rising, as inflation trends higher in Europe, said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in a Friday note.

    The euro surged after his comments, above the $1.06 level before slipping to $1.0597 at 11:45 am HK/SIN.

    In the broader FX market, the dollar traded at 101.88 against a basket of currencies, slipping below the 102 handle it was at earlier. Against the greenback, the yen was weaker at 115.15 while the Australian dollar was under pressure at $0.7515.




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