Asian markets experienced a rebound following U.S. President Donald Trump’s retraction of his threat to impose tariffs on European nations concerning Greenland. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump stated that he would refrain from using force to acquire the Arctic island, thereby alleviating concerns regarding potential U.S. military action. He also mentioned that he had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” in collaboration with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The Kospi experienced an increase of 0.87%, momentarily surpassing the 5,000 threshold before retracting to 4,952.53. Meanwhile, the small-cap Kosdaq index rose by 2%, concluding at 970.35. The battery manufacturer Samsung SDI experienced a significant increase of 18.67%, while the conglomerate Doosan saw a rise of 9.09%, and the major player Samsung Electronics advanced by 1.87%. The economy of the country experienced an unanticipated contraction of 0.3% on a quarterly basis during the October to December period, marking its most significant decline since 2022.
Gross domestic product increased by 1.5% year on year, whereas full-year economic growth decelerated to 1%, marking the lowest rate since 2020, a year in which output shrank by 0.7% due to the pandemic. Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index Increased by 1.73%, concluding at 53,688.89, thereby breaking its five-day decline, whereas the comprehensive Topix advanced by 0.74% to 3,616.38. Japan’s trade figures for December were released today, revealing a 5.1% growth in exports that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Chinese markets experienced modest gains, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index experiencing a slight increase in its final hour, with the CSI 300 index on mainland China rising 0.01% to 4,723.71. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced an increase of 0.75%, concluding the day at 8,848.7, following a decline in the preceding session. Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.21%, the S&P 500 gained 1.16%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.18%.