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South Korean markets fell Wednesday as pressure mounted on President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down after he imposed and then lifted a martial law decree within hours.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index nudged ahead 27.53 points, or 0.1%, to 39,276.39.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index peeled back 3.86 points to 19,742.46.
A coalition of lawmakers from South Korea’s opposition parties put forward a bill to impeach Yoon on Wednesday afternoon, according to the spokesperson’s office of the main opposition Democracy Party.
Yoon’s office said Wednesday that his chief of staff and senior secretaries have offered their resignations.
Amid fears of financial instability, the Bank of Korea said it would boost short-term liquidity and deploy measures to stabilize the FX market as required following an emergency board meeting. It will also make available any special loans needed to inject funds into the market, it added.
Earlier, Yonhap News Agency had reported that country’s top financial regulator was ready to deploy 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) in a stock market stabilization fund at any time to calm market sentiment.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign exchange authorities are suspected of selling U.S. dollars on the onshore market early Wednesday in efforts to limit declines in the Korean won, two dealers told Reuters.
Investors also assessed GDP data out of Australia, which showed economic growth come in slower than expected in the third quarter, as elevated borrowing costs and sticky inflation continued to weigh on the country.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 retreated 21.33 points, or 0.5%, to 3,950.56.
In Taiwan, the Taiex surged 227.87 points, or 1%, to 23,255,73
In Korea, the Kospi index fell 36.1 points, or 1.4%, to 2,464.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 13.81 points, or 0.4%, at 3,799.94.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 196.51 points, or 1.5%, to 12,896.67
In Australia, the ASX 200 flopped 32.61 points, or 0.4%, to 8,462.60.
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