SINGAPORE — South Korean stocks led losses among major markets in Asia-Pacific as tensions on the Korean peninsula reignited.
The Kospi in South Korea dropped more than 2% in morning trade.
The moves came following reports that South Korea’s defense ministry said North Korea had killed a missing official from the South earlier this week. It marked the first time since July 2008 that a South Korean civilian has been shot dead in North Korea, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Shares of South Korean defense firm Victek soared around 19% following the announcement, while North Korea exposed stocks Hanil Hyundai Cement and Hyundai Elevator slipped 1.97% and 0.62%, respectively.
Asia-Pacific markets decline
Elsewhere, other Asia-Pacific markets also saw losses, following an overnight drop on Wall Street.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also fell 1.8%. Mainland Chinese stocks slipped, with the Shanghai composite down about 1.3% while the Shenzhen component declined 1.613%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.57% while the Topix index shed 0.53%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.98%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 1.49% lower.
Tech shares decline
Technology stocks in Asia took a hit in Thursday morning trade, following losses seen by their counterparts stateside.
In Japan, conglomerate Softbank Group saw its stock drop 2.93%. Kakao in South Korea also fell 3.56%. In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi slipped 3.84% while Tencent declined 1.26%, with the Hang Seng Tech index falling 2.59%. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares in Taiwan shed 2.19%.
The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite has fallen 9.7% so far this month as investors rotate out of the sector. Big Tech stocks like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft are all down at least 11% in September.
Australia’s Westpac reaches settlement
Shares of Australia’s Westpac were down 0.61%, with the lender announcing Thursday it had reached an agreement with financial crime agency AUSTRAC to pay a record 1.3 billion Australian dollar (approx. $920 million) fine, according to Reuters.
The settlement came following a lawsuit from AUSTRAC accusing Westpac of enabling millions of payments to people exploiting children, Reuters reported. Other major Australian banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group also saw their stocks decline.
Oil prices slip
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down about 0.7% to $41.48 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also slipped 1.03% to $39.52 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, sat at 94.377 following its rise from levels below 93 this week.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.42 per dollar after weakening from levels around 105 yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7055 after falling yesterday from above $0.712.
— CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.
Source: CNBC