Closing post
Time to recap…
The shock news that martial law has been declared in South Korea has rocked its currency, and hit shares in the company’s stocks.
The won has fallen to a two-year low today, as traders react to president Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning decision to challenge the left-wing parliamentary group that controls the national assembly, by banning political activity.
Shares in South Korean ETFs tumbled, while Samsung’s stock fell over 5% in London.
Here’s the latest:
The worrying news from Seoul took the shine off a rally in European stocks today, where the FTSE 100 is on track for a six-week closing high.
In Germany, the DAX index climbed over the 20,000 point mark for the first time, sparking talk that a Santa Rally may be taking off in Europe.
In London, anti-Barclays protesters have gathered at a banking summit….
….where its former CEO accused the UK government of a “get those fuckers” attitude towards bankers.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar has unveiled its much-anticipated concept electric car, to a better reception than it may have feared.
The boss of the Japanese bank Nomura has apologised and taken a voluntary pay cut after a former employee was charged with robbery and attempted murder of a customer.
Labour will miss its manifesto target of building 1.5m homes in England before the end of this parliament without more radical reform to the planning system, the thinktank the Centre for Cities has warned.
The Office for National Statistics has conceded it may not be ready to replace its defective employment survey with a more accurate series until 2027, despite complaints from policymakers about the quality of the existing data.
Exports of British food to the EU have dropped by nearly £3bn a year since Brexit, a trade thinktank has said, with new physical and documentary checks at the border complicating trade.
South Korea vows to make 'all possible' support available for markets
South Korea’s finance minister has declared that the government will deploy all possible measures to stabilize financial markets if needed.
Following an emergency meeting with top economic officials in Seoul, Choi Sang-mok said:
“We will mobilize all possible financial and foreign exchange market stabilization measures, including unlimited liquidity injections.”
