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The South Korean equity markets on Friday led the losses in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region as shares of multinational conglomerate Samsung and all the related companies plummeted.
In the morning trade on the last day of the week, shares of all the companies in the conglomerate went crashing: Samsung Electronics plunged 3.5% while Samsung C&T dropped 1.11%. Samsung Life Insurance fell 0.52% and Samsung SDS declined 1.96%.
Shares of the group witnessed high selling pressure after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y Lee was released from prison on Friday. The country’s justice ministry announced earlier this week that Mr Lee had qualified for parole. He was serving prison for a bribery and embezzlement conviction.
The broader benchmark KOSPI in South Korea was down 1.39%.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 shrugged off the morning losses and was trading near the flatline – up 0.01%.
Down Under, in Australia, the benchmark ASX200 edged 0.51% higher as investors closely watched the deteriorating COVID-19 situation, with the country’s capital Canberra entering a week-long lockdown from Thursday after a case was identified. The country reported 414 cases yesterday – a massive spike from past days.
Meanwhile Morgan Stanley Capital International’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.58% higher.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 14.88 points to 35,499.85 while the S&P 500 gained about 0.3% to 4,460.83. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.35% to 14,816.26.
