Asia markets mixed, South Korea’s Kospi hits record high

January 02, 2026 (MLN): Asia markets began the new year on a mixed note on Friday, with South Korea’s equity benchmarks taking the lead as investor sentiment improved across parts of the region.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.65% during the session, touching a fresh all-time high, according to CNBC.

Gains were driven by heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which climbed nearly 3% following reports that customers had expressed strong satisfaction with its high memory bandwidth (HBM) chips.

The tech-heavy Kosdaq outperformed, rising 1.47%.

South Korean stock markets will operate on a shortened schedule, opening an hour later at 10 a.m. local time, while several regional exchanges, including those in Japan and mainland China, remained closed for the holiday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.13% in early trade, reflecting cautious optimism among investors.

Hong Kong equities posted strong gains, with the Hang Seng Index jumping 1.48%.

Education-related stocks led the advance, while artificial intelligence chipmaker Shanghai Biren surged more than 100% on its first day of trading following its debut on the benchmark index.

The company raised HK$5.58bn, or about $717m, in its initial public offering.

Demand was exceptionally strong, with the public tranche subscribed more than 2,300 times even after the exercise of the upsize option, while the international portion was nearly 26 times oversubscribed.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s economic data offered a positive signal.

The economy expanded 5.7% year on year in the fourth quarter, supported largely by robust manufacturing activity in the final months of the year.

This marked an acceleration from the revised 4.3% growth recorded in the previous quarter.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his New Year address that the country achieved a stronger-than-expected 4.8% expansion for the full year of 2025.

U.S. equity futures traded modestly higher during Asian hours showing a firmer start for Wall Street. S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.12%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.16%.

Overnight in the United States, major indices closed lower. The S&P 500 declined 0.74%, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.76%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.63%.

Despite the midweek pullback, the S&P 500 remained up 16.39% for the year to date.

The Nasdaq Composite posted a stronger 20.36% annual gain, buoyed by continued enthusiasm around artificial intelligence, while the Dow ended 2025 higher by 12.97%, trailing peers due to its limited exposure to technology stocks.

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