Asian stocks staged a strong recovery Thursday after steep declines the previous day, while European stocks were slightly higher. US stock futures, after rebounding Wednesday, were broadly flat Thursday morning.
South Korea’s Kospi index closed 9.6% higher after a record 12% selloff Wednesday.
One explanation for the massive declines in Seoul earlier this week is “that Korea’s equities have (recently) benefitted from extreme exuberance, perhaps speculative excess, and were due a break,” Thomas Mathews, head of markets analysis for Asia-Pacific at consultancy Capital Economics, said Thursday. “Indeed, earnings expectations had grown sky-high.”
A rebound in other Asian stock indexes was less stark after Wednesday’s smaller falls. Europe’s benchmark STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.5%, building on a bigger rise the previous day after sliding earlier in the week.
US futures signaled a mixed open on Wall Street. The Dow was on track to open 0.1% down, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were little changed.
More broadly, markets have “remained very sensitive to headlines,” Deutsche Bank said in a note Thursday, noting that oil prices had fallen during the day on Wednesday after the New York Times reported that Iran had made indirect contact with the United States to discuss negotiations to end their conflict.
Likewise, Mohit Kumar, economist at Jefferies, wrote Thursday that the report had helped “set a tone for higher markets.”
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, still ended Wednesday’s session up on the day, settling at the highest level since January 2025. It rose 2.4% in morning trade Thursday to $83 a barrel. WTI, the US benchmark, was up 3%.
