Emerging Markets: South Korea's KOSPI ticks higher after confirming bear market

United Overseas Bank

09/07/2026 09:50

Updates for afternoon trade
KOSPI snaps three-day losing streak
Singapore stocks continue rally to new record highs
Malaysian central bank keeps key rate at 2.75%
Rupiah weakens to 18,095 a dollar
By Sherin Sunny

    July 9 (Reuters) - South Korean stocks settled higher on Thursday following a volatile session that dragged them to seven-week lows, while Malaysia's currency and equities held steady after the central bank kept its interest rate unchanged as widely expected.
The tech-heavy South Korean benchmark KOSPI .KS11 ended 0.5% higher on a chip-stock rebound after swinging between gains and losses. Its previous session's fall, amid a tech share slide, marked a 20% decline from a record close on June 22 that confirmed a bear market. 
Despite this, the South Korean index is still the top global market with a nearly 73% gain this year on a blistering rally in AI-linked stocks.
On Thursday, global markets contended with renewed hostilities in the Middle East after U.S. President Donald Trump said an interim agreement to end the Iran war was "over", followed by fresh attacks and retaliation between the two sides.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Asia gauge .MIMS00000PUS fell 0.4%. Equities in the Philippines .PSI fell 0.8%, while those in Indonesia .JKSE and Thailand .SETI gained 0.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
In Southeast Asia, Singaporean stocks .STI rose as much as 1.3% to scale a record high for a fifth consecutive session, with banks OCBC OCBC.SI, UOBH UOBH.SI and DBS DBSM.SI gaining between 1.3% and 2.8%.
Among currencies in the region, MSCI gauge .MIEM00000CUS of currencies in the emerging markets fell 0.3%.
The South Korean won .KRW=KFTC held firm at 1,508.9 a dollar. Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun Song said that he sees a strong likelihood of the won appreciating, given robust economic fundamentals.
However, Indonesian rupiah IDR= weakened to 18,095, approaching its record low of 18,190 per dollar.
The Taiwan dollar TWD=TP weakened to 32.210 a dollar, its lowest since April 30, 2025.
The Thai baht THB=TH gained nearly 0.2%, Singapore dollar SGD= gained 0.1% and the Philippine peso PHP= fell by 0.1%. 
In Malaysia, the ringgit MYR= and stocks .KLSE were largely unchanged after the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 2.75% for a sixth straight meeting, amid moderate inflation and sustained economic growth.
"The (central bank) statement underpins greater confidence on the growth outlook, also underscored by the solid May industrial production growth print of 8.4%," said Lavanya Venkateswaran, senior ASEAN economist at OCBC Bank.
Venkateswaran flagged that there are limited signs of a hawkish turn despite the recognition of strong growth in the first half of 2026.    
Capital Economics said in a note the flare-up in Middle East tensions was unlikely to have a major impact, and expects growth to hold up well over the coming quarters, helped by an AI-driven investment and export cycle.
       
HIGHLIGHTS:    
** SK Hynix US listing more than seven times oversubscribed, source says
** Thai consumer confidence rises for first time in four months in June
** Malaysia's May industrial production up 8.4% y/y, below forecast
     
     
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0729 GMT
COUNTRY
FX RIC
FX DAILY %
FX YTD %
INDEX
STOCKS DAILY %
STOCKS YTD %
Japan
JPY=
+0.13
-3.52
.N225
1.4
30.7
China
CNY=CFXS
+0.15
+2.84
.SSEC
1.65
1.71
India
INR=IN
+0.13
-5.83
.NSEI
0.58
-8.07
Indonesia
IDR=
-0.53
-7.82
.JKSE
0.25
-31.91
Malaysia
MYR=
-0.05
-0.49
.KLSE
-0.23
-0.02
Philippines
PHP=
-0.10
-4.48
.PSI
-0.72
2.94
S.Korea
KRW=KFTC
-0.48
-4.64
.KS11
0.56
72.93
Singapore
SGD=
+0.09
-0.53
.STI
0.49
16.14
Taiwan
TWD=TP
-0.52
-2.37
.TWII
-0.83
56.59
Thailand
THB=TH
+0.15
-5.84
.SETI
1.64
27.18
     
     
     

(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)
((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com;))