S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
South Korea’s 10-year government bond yield traded around 4.33% in mid-July, hovering near its highest level in over three years, after the Bank of Korea raised its base rate to 2.75% as expected. The move marked the first rate hike since January 2023 and what markets viewed as the start of a new tightening cycle. The decision followed months of increasingly hawkish signals from the central bank, with Governor Shin Hyun Song consistently arguing since chairing his first policy meeting in May that persistent inflation, resilient growth, exchange rate pressures, and financial stability risks all supported tighter monetary policy. The BoK said an AI-driven semiconductor boom is likely to lift economic growth well above its May forecast of 2.6%, while inflation is expected to remain above the 2% target for an extended period. Policymakers then signaled that further policy tightening remains possible, with the timing and pace of additional rate hikes to depend on incoming economic data.
