Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
The Asian and Pacific Rim markets were mostly mixed to lower on Thursday. Sentiment was subdued after South Korea reported a contraction with their quarterly gross domestic product (GDP). Korean exports fell sharply which hurt economic activity and growth.
Asian traders are also watching the surge in Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases in the United States and some new hotspots in Australia.
The Australian ASX 200 was up 0.32 percent by the end of the morning, Hong Kong time. The heavily weighted financial sub-index was up a fraction of a percent.
Shares in Taiwan were down 0.37 percent and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index added over one percent to beat the trend.
The Asian benchmark, in Seoul South Korea, the Kospi composite index gave up 0.48 percent by late morning.
The financial equity markets on the Chinese mainland were lower by the end of the morning. The Shanghai composite fell 0.95 percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite gave up 1.94 percent. The Shenzhen component fell 1.53 percent.
Asian Traders React to South Korea’s GDP Contraction
The South Korean central bank just released their quarterly estimate of the gross domestic product for the second quarter of 2020.
Their economy contracted 3.3 percent for the quarter and is down 2.9 percent for the year. Private consumption gained 1.4 percent as consumers spent more on durable goods. However exports cratered 16.6 percent as automobile exports, coal and petroleum products all fell.
Political Tensions between China and the United States Mount
Political tensions between China and the United States are mounting as the U.S. is claiming that Chinese hackers are trying to steal Covid-19 vaccine data.
The U.S. State Department has order that China close its consulate in Houston. China has strongly rebuked this move and their Foreign Ministry has warned that there will be consequences is the United States does not reverse this decision.
