South Korea’s Kospi index closed at a record high Thursday, after the International Monetary Fund raised the country’s 2025 growth forecast to 0.9% from 0.8% in its October outlook report.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index hiked 605.07 points, or 1.3%, to 48.277.74.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 22.07 points, or 0.1%. to 25,888.51.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Nio plunged 9% after Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund sued the Chinese electric vehicle maker for allegedly violating securities laws by inflating its revenues.
The lawsuit named Nio’s CEO Li Bin and former Financial Officer Feng Wei as defendants, according to a court document filed in August in the Southern District of New York court.
The IMF also raised its growth projection for the global economy, saying the impact of U.S. tariffs was “at the modest end of the range.”
It cited several reasons for upgrading the forecast, including the agility of the private sector, which front-loaded imports in the first half of the year and quickly reorganized supply chains to redirect trade flows; trade deals between the U.S. and other countries; and the overall restraint from much of the world, which largely kept the global trading system open.
South Korean stocks also received a boost after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tole reporters that Washington was “about to finish up” trade negotiations with the Asian country.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 rose to a new record after the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to a near four-year high in September at 4.5%. That compares with the 4.3% estimated by Reuters-polled economists and the 4.2% rate in August. The index added 0.86% to close at 9,068.4.
Meanwhile, employment rose by 14,900 in September, missing expectations for a 20,000 rise. The weak jobs reading paves the way for further interest rate cuts.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in Shanghai gained 12.13 points, or 0.3%, to 4,618.42.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index docked 12.22 points, or 0.3%, to 4,356.25.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index charged ahead 372.16 points, or 1.4%, to 27,647.87.
In Korea, the Kospi jumped 91.09 points, or 2.5%, to 3,748.37.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 moved up 81.7 points, or 0.6%, to 13,389.10.
In Australia, the ASX 200 grew 77.48 points, or 0.9%, to 9,068.40.
