BOK rate decision, Australia unemployment

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BOK rate decision, Australia unemployment

People walk inside the Korea Exchange (KRX) building, as stock markets in Asia as a whole have been affected by the intensifying political turmoil over president Yoon Suk Yeol’s role in martial law, in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 9, 2024.

Daniel Ceng | Anadolu | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets climbed Thursday, after U.S. markets soared on the back of an unexpected decline in core inflation numbers in December and strong bank earnings.

Investors in Asia await the Bank of Korea’s rate decision later in the day, with economists polled by Reuters expecting the BOK to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 opened up 0.73% while the Topix gained 0.48%.

Japan’s annual producer price index climbed 3.8% in December, in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi began the day up 1.24% while the small-cap Kosdaq index was up 1.35%.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,426 pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 19,286.07.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.58%.

The country is slated to release its unemployment figures for December later in the day. Its unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly to 4% from November’s 3.9%, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks saw significant gains with all three major averages recording their best day since Nov. 6.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.65%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.83%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.45%.

Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropped sharply at about 4.65% or around 13 basis points on the back of the CPI report.

Oil prices rose following news of the Israel-****** ceasefire and hostage deal. Brent crude gained 3.22% while the WTI edged up 0.3% to settle at $80.28 per barrel.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.

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