ARTICLE AD BOX
People walking through the neon lit night streets of Sinchon in the heart of Seoul, South Korea’s vibrant capital city.
Fotovoyager | E+ | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains overnight as President Donald Trump signed a reciprocal tariffs plans, but did not enact the levies on them immediately.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.76% higher, after hitting a intra-day record in the previous session.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 started the day down 0.15%, while the broader Topix index was up 0.31%.
South Korea's Kospi opened 0.14% higher while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.74%.
The country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 2.9% in January, easing from its three-year high of 3.7% in the month before.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 21,941 pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI's close of 21,814.37.
Meanwhile, India's wholesale price inflation, capturing price changes by wholesalers, is expected to rise 2.5% in January, more than 2.3% growth in the previous month.
Singapore's GDP rose 5% year on year in the fourth-quarter of 2024, surpassing the 4.7% growth expected by Reuters.
South Korea's unemployment rate eases to 2.7% in January
South Korea's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 2.9% in January, easing from its three-year high of 3.7% from the month before.
The country's unemployed population increased by 11,000 people, or 1% year on year, to 1,083,000 in the first month of 2025, according to government data released Friday.
Overall, South Korea's economically active population grew 0.5% year on year to some 28,961,000 million people in January.
— Amala Balakrishner
India index down 3% for the week
The MSCI India Index inched down around 0.2% Thursday, putting the ETF down 3.1% week to date.
The pullback comes amid Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington, D.C., where he and President Trump are expected to hold a joint press conference later on Thursday.
When signing the executive order for U.S. reciprocal tariffs on Thursday, Trump said "India has more tariffs than any other country." The U.S. recorded a $45.7 billion trade deficit with India in 2024, according to data from the Census Bureau.
— Hakyung Kim
English (US)