MARKETS: Asian stock markets on the rise – in South Korea, Samsung and SK Hynix are in strong demand

In Asia, the stock markets were on the rise on Wednesday.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 2.7 percent, while the broader Topix was up 2.4 percent.

According to foreign trade statistics published in Japan, the country’s exports rose by 4.2 percent in February from the previous year. Economists had expected 1.6 percent growth.

The Bank of Japan will meet on Thursday to decide on the direction of monetary policy. The market expects the interest rate to remain unchanged. In Japan, the increase in wages continued in a stable biscuit week, according to the figures announced.

In mainland China, the CSI 300 was down 0.02 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, on the other hand, was up 0.6 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi index was up 4.8 percent. Samsung’s the stock was up 7 percent on the Korean stock exchange and SK Hynix share up 8.5 percent.

South Korea intends to tighten the rules in situations where listed companies bring their own subsidiaries to the stock exchange. The current practice has long been criticized for weakening the value of the original company’s shares and causing losses to its owners.

According to Bloomberg, taking several companies of the same group of companies to the stock market separately has long eaten away at the value of the parent companies. This is a key reason why Korean stocks have been consistently cheaper than the rest of the world.

On the oil market, the price of Brent oil was around $100 per barrel.

Later in the week, investors’ eyes will turn to the United States, where the Fed is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision. The market expects the central bank to keep interest rates unchanged.

At 8:22 a.m. one euro was worth 1.15 dollars, 183.1 yen, 0.86 pounds and 10.7 Swedish kronor. The dollar was 158 yen and the pound was 1.33 dollars.

An upward opening is expected for the United States on Wednesday, based on index futures. An upswing in Europe is also expected.