HONG KONG (AP) – Global stocks were mixed Wednesday, with the Kospi in Seoul falling less than 2% after an overnight political drama in South Korea heightened uncertainty in the region.
France's CAC40 index rose 0.3% to 7,278.18 in early trade as the minority government faces crisis. vote of no confidence Congress on Wednesday after a divisive budget debate. It looked like there was strong chance The vote could overthrow Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government.
Germany's DAX rose 0.4% to 20,100.80, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 8,343.17.
The S&P 500 futures index rose 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%.
South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol faced Possibility of impeachment suddenly after him declare martial law Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround Congress. Yun accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world's most vibrant democracies. Martial law was lifted about six hours later.
On Wednesday, South Korea's main opposition party called on President Yoon to immediately resign or face impeachment.
Yun's move sent the won plummeting to a two-year low against the dollar, dropping as much as 2%, the biggest one-day decline since the market's seismic shift in response to the 2016 presidential election victory. Wong recouped some of those losses on Wednesday. The dollar was trading at 1,412.87 won, down from Tuesday's high of 1,443.40 won.
South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4% to 2,464.00. The stock price of Samsung Electronics, the largest domestic company, fell 0.9%. Meanwhile, the country's financial regulator announced that it is ready to inject 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) into the stock market stabilization fund at any time, Yonhap News reported.
Elsewhere in the region, in a further step towards a full-blown trade war, China announced on Tuesday: Export ban Provides the United States with gallium, germanium, antimony, and other important high-tech materials with potential military applications. The Chinese government followed the US in taking steps Expanded list Number of Chinese companies subject to export restrictions on computer chip manufacturing equipment, software, and high-bandwidth memory chips.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended little changed at 19,742.46, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% to 3,364.65.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.1% to 39,276.39. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.4% to 8,462.60.
U.S. stocks broke another record Tuesday, adding to an already great year.
The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% to 6,049.88, marking its 55th all-time high this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 44,705.53, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 19,480.91, hitting a new all-time high set a day earlier.
