Asia Pacific stock indices fall as South Korean growth slows

The Asia-Pacific benchmarks are down as South Korea’s growth slows.


Blue avatar for FOREX.com guest contributors
By :  ,  Financial Analyst

The major Asia-Pacific stock indices have lost ground this morning (October 26th) on news South Korea's growth has slowed to its most sluggish pace in nearly three years.

Expansion in the nation in the third quarter was weaker as private investment fell significantly, outweighing an increase in consumer and government spending.

Today, the Bank of Korea announced that Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded by 1.6 per cent in the three months to September 30th compared to the same time last year.

Furthermore, quarter-on-quarter growth was only higher by 0.2 per cent for the July-September period.

Corporations have held back investments in facilities for two consecutive quarters, underlining the fact many businesses are still not confident to spend owing to the uncertain economic outlook.

At 08:45 BST, the Tokyo Nikkei 225 index was 0.8 per cent lower to an index value of 4496.3 points, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong plunged by more than one per cent to an index value of 21579.3 points.

Learn about CFD trading strategies and the stock market at City Index.

Related tags:

Open an account today

Experience award-winning platforms with fast and secure execution.

Web Trader platform

Our sophisticated web-based platform is packed with features.
Economic Calendar