South Korea’s Kospi jumped on Thursday, staging a sharp rebound from its worst session, and on course to clock its best day, data from LSEG showed.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 recovered 1,032,52 points, or 1.9%, to 55,278.06.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng regained 71.86 points, or 0.3%, to 25,321.34.
In Korea, the Kospi improved 490.36 points, or 9.6%, to 5,583.90.
The index subsequently pared gains, rising 9.6% to 5,583.9, with heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surging more than 10% and 11%, respectively.
The Kospi index had plunged 12% on Wednesday, its worst single-day decline.
The rebound in South Korea’s stock market was largely driven by a reversal of leveraged selling, according to some analysts.
CHINA
The CSI 300 restocked 45.07 points, or 1%, to 4,647.69, after China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5%, the lowest target on record going back to early 1990s, as Beijing grapples with persistent deflationary pressures and trade tensions with the U.S.
That target marks a downgrade from the “around 5%” set in the past three years and the most modest goal so far for the world’s second largest economy, barring 2020 when Beijing did not set a growth target due to the pandemic.
Beijing also kept its budget deficit target unchanged from last year’s “around 4%” of GDP, as the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislative body, holds its annual meeting this week.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 33.81 points, or 0.7%, to 4,846.56.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index hiked 844.06 points, or 2.6%, to 33,672.94.
In Australia, the ASX moved back up 39.11 points, or 0.4%, to 8,940.32.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 86.77 points, or 0.6%, to 13,617.89.
