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Hong Kong, China — Equities extended losses in Seoul on Thursday, while the won stabilized as South Korea entered a period of uncertainty with President Yoon Suk Yeol clinging to power after his brief imposition of martial law this week.
And Bitcoin broke past the $100,000 mark for the first time Thursday on hopes US President-elect Donald Trump will push through measures to deregulate cryptocurrencies when he takes office next month.
The digital unit hit $100,010 in early Asian trade, having enjoyed a blistering rally since the November 5 election of Trump, who pledged on the campaign trail to make the United States the “bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world”.
On Wednesday, the crisis in East Asia kicked off a day of high drama, as hours later the three-month-old government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier was brought down in a no-confidence vote linked to a controversial budget proposal.
The news out of the eurozone’s number-two economy had been expected and the euro saw no major impact, but the move injected fresh uncertainty into an already fraught political situation in France after divisive elections earlier this year.
All eyes in Asia are on Seoul, where the opposition has pushed for Yoon’s impeachment, accusing him of declaring martial law to stop criminal investigations into himself and his family.
But while the leader of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) called for the president to resign from the party and stressed he was “not trying to defend the president’s unconstitutional martial law”, a key PPP member vowed all its lawmakers would “stay united” to reject the impeachment motion.
