South Korean auto shares rose on Tuesday after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that U.S. auto tariffs on South Korea have been reduced to 15% with retrospective effect from November 1. Lutnick also announced the removal of tariffs on airplane parts and a move to align Korea’s reciprocal tariff rate with those applied to Japan and the EU.
Hyundai Motor shares climbed nearly 5% and Kia gained about 3% following the news. The broader Kospi index advanced 1.02%, while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped slightly.
Fresh inflation data also shaped sentiment. South Korea’s headline inflation rose 2.4% year-on-year in November, slightly above expectations. Core inflation increased 2%, matching October’s pace and reinforcing expectations that the Bank of Korea will keep interest rates on hold after leaving them unchanged at 2.5% last week.
Across the region, Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.54% as financials, energy and basic materials led gains. Robotics maker Fanuc, NGK Insulators and Fujikura were among the top performers. In bond markets, yields on 10-, 20- and 30-year Japanese government bonds surged to their highest levels in more than a decade amid growing speculation of a near-term rate hike.
Australia’s ASX 200 edged up, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng opened modestly higher. Mainland China’s CSI 300 slipped, though Alibaba gained nearly 3% after launching its Quark AI glasses. In India, the Nifty 50 traded lower, with Bajaj Housing Finance falling over 8% after Bajaj Finance announced it would sell up to 2% of its stake.
Meanwhile, U.S. futures were little changed in early Asian trading after all three major indexes snapped five-day winning streaks. Bitcoin’s 6% slide below $86,000 overnight also weighed on sentiment, with crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase and Strategy dropping in U.S. trading.
