SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Asian equity markets extended gains Thursday, led by tech stocks benefiting from Google’s dual breakthroughs in AI chips and the Gemini 3.0 model.
In Korea, the won strengthened sharply while government bond prices slumped after the Bank of Korea governor struck a hawkish tone on FX risks and inflation after keeping the base rate at 2.50 percent in the final policy meeting of the year.
The 3-year yield jumped 11.8 basis points to 3.013 percent and the 10-year rose 10 basis points to 3.351 percent. The dollar fell 8.40 won to 1,462.10 won.
The benchmark KOSPI closed 0.66 percent higher at 3,986.91 after briefly retaking the 4,000 mark.
Institutional investors—responding to the government’s appeal to shore up the won—net bought 434.3 billion won ($296.4 million). Foreign investors also reversed course, buying a net 149.6 billion won, while retail investors sold 610.2 billion won.
All major bellwethers advanced.
SK hynix gained 3.82 percent to 544,000 won, recovering recent losses. Samsung Electronics gave up early gains but still closed 0.68 percent higher at 103,500 won.
Samsung Epis Holdings jumped 19.7 percent to 434,500 won on expectations of strong growth potential following its spin-off to focus on new drug and biosimilar businesses.
Some stocks lagged. Hanwha Ocean fell 2.99 percent to 110,500 won after signs of a possible end to the Ukraine war and the company’s failure to win a Polish submarine contract.
Naver slid 4.55 percent to 251,500 won after a 50 billion won hacking loss at Dunamu, which is set to merge with Naver Financial. The loss darkened prospects for a potential NASDAQ listing.
The KOSDAQ edged up 0.31 percent to 880.06, with gains across chip and robotics names. Rainbow Robotics rose 2.68 percent to 383,500 won.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.23 percent higher at 50,167.10. Chip suppliers led the advance: Advantest rose 4.88 percent to 20,410 yen, while Ibiden gained 5 percent to 11,450 yen.
Battery stocks also rallied, with Panasonic up 5.08 percent at 1,934 yen after securing a supply contract with Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous taxi unit.
Taiwan’s TAIEX added 0.53 percent to 27,554.53. Market heavyweights were mixed: TSMC slipped 0.35 percent, while MediaTek gained 3.08 percent and Hon Hai rose 1.76 percent, suggesting a rotation away from the TSMC-centric bias.
Mainland Chinese markets saw a late-session reversal.
The Shanghai Composite closed 0.29 percent higher at 3,875.26, while the SZSE Component fell 0.25 percent to 12,875.20.
News that Vanke, China’s largest developer, entered talks to extend bond maturities pressured Shenzhen and Hong Kong markets. Shanghai, meanwhile, drew investors betting on central government stimulus to avert a Vanke-triggered credit shock.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index remained flat at 25,941.2, weighed down by profit-taking in tech names—Tencent down 1.45 percent and Alibaba down 2.71 percent—and by cooling consumer sentiment after the deadly Tai Po apartment fire that killed at least 55 people.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
