South Korea’s Kospi Sets New Peak as Asia-Pacific Markets Open 2026 on Divergent Note

Asia-Pacific equities began 2026 with uneven performances, led by a fresh record on South Korea’s Kospi, while several major regional exchanges remained shut for the New Year holiday.

The Kospi climbed 1.96% on Friday, surpassing its previous high and marking the strongest start to a calendar year in the index’s history. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics advanced roughly 6% after the company said customers had responded favorably to its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, fueling optimism about semiconductor demand. South Korea’s small-cap Kosdaq index tracked the broader rally, adding 1.84%.

Trading volumes in Asia were thinned by holiday closures in Japan and mainland China, yet Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.43%. Education-related shares led gains, while artificial-intelligence chip designer Shanghai Biren Technology more than doubled in its first session on the Hang Seng after a HK$5.58 billion (US$717 million) initial public offering. The retail portion of the IPO was oversubscribed more than 2,300 times even after an upsize option was exercised; the international tranche was 25.95 times covered.

Singapore released stronger-than-expected economic data that supported equities. Gross domestic product expanded 5.7% year on year in the fourth quarter, accelerating from a revised 4.3% increase in the preceding three-month period. Full-year growth for 2025 was 4.8%, outpacing earlier projections. The Straits Times Index touched an all-time high and last traded 0.43% higher, supported by industrial and financial shares.

Indian markets also advanced. The benchmark Nifty 50 edged up 0.41%, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.39%. Casual-dining operator Sapphire Foods initially sank as much as 5.93% after peer Devyani International agreed to merge with the company in a US$934 million transaction, but the stock later pared part of the decline as investors assessed the combined group’s scale in the quick-service restaurant segment.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.15%, supported by materials and energy names. Elsewhere in the region, markets in New Zealand and Thailand posted modest moves in quiet holiday-week trading.

Futures pointed to a cautiously positive open on Wall Street. S&P 500 contracts were up 0.15% in early Asian hours, the Nasdaq-100 added 0.12%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.16% higher. The tentative rebound followed a mid-week pullback in the major U.S. benchmarks: the S&P 500 slipped 0.74%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.76% and the Dow lost 0.63% on Wednesday. Despite that retreat, the S&P 500 closed 2025 with a 16.39% gain, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 20.36% on sustained enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence plays. The Dow finished the year up 12.97%, lagging its peers because of lighter exposure to large-cap technology stocks.

Imagem: imagem internet 12

Investors globally are starting 2026 focused on the trajectory of interest rates and the durability of last year’s technology-led rally. Central banks in North America and Europe signaled in December that policy rates may have peaked, but officials have cautioned that inflation risks persist. The International Monetary Fund projects that global growth will moderate this year before stabilizing as monetary settings gradually normalize.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was little changed against a basket of peers, while the South Korean won firmed in tandem with local equities. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields held near mid-December levels, offering limited direction for Asia-Pacific debt markets.

Looking ahead, traders will monitor December manufacturing and services data from China, scheduled for release early next week, for clues on the strength of the world’s second-largest economy as domestic stimulus measures begin to filter through. Japanese markets resume on Monday, providing the first read on investor sentiment in Tokyo after the Bank of Japan’s late-2025 decision to keep negative interest rates in place.

With several exchanges reopening in the coming sessions, liquidity is expected to normalize, allowing money managers to solidify asset-allocation strategies for the first quarter. Equity funds ended 2025 with the strongest net inflows since 2021, according to industry trackers, underscoring optimism that corporate earnings can extend recent momentum even as growth cools in developed markets.

Crédito da imagem: Lam Yik / Reuters