Asian markets mostly rose on Friday, with Japanese shares gaining on a weaker yen, although Seoul shares plunged as South Korea's political crisis deepened with a second impeachment vote. Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.8 percent, with the yen's recent weakness proving a boon for major exporters. The yen hit 158.08 per dollar on Thursday evening — its lowest in almost six months — before rebounding somewhat on Friday. In Seoul, the market closed down by 1.
02 percent after the won plunged to a 16-year low of 1,480.20 per dollar on Friday morning. South Korea is struggling to emerge from political turbulence in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration this month, which prompted his impeachment. Acting President Han Duck-soo was also impeached Friday in a vote that prompted ruling party lawmakers to protest with angry chants and raised fists. South Korea's business outlook for January fell 7.3 points to 82.4 in the Bank of Korea's composite sentiment index, marking the biggest month-on-month slide since April 2020, according to data released Friday. The survey of almost 3,300 firms was conducted between Dec. 11 and 18. In Japan, the yen was 'marginally stronger' on Friday, Bloomberg reported, after data showed inflation in Tokyo rose for a second month in December. Other positive figures from Japan showed industrial production declined less than expected in November, while retail sales came in higher than estimated last month. With the country's unemployment rate holding at 2.5 percent in November — low by international standards but slightly above Japan's pre-Covid 19 pandemic average — Moody's Analytics said on Friday that the data confirmed their view that 'employment conditions are wobbly.' Investor attention is now focused 'on whether the Nikkei average will expand its rise to recover to the 40,000 points range by the end of the year,' said Kosuke Oka, an analyst at Monex Securitie
Asian Markets Japanese Yen South Korean Won Political Crisis Impeachment
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