Europe Asia News

The Kospi Index rose 0.65% to a record high. Shares of Samsung Electronics gained nearly 3% after reports said customers praised its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.

The small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.47%. Some Asian markets, including Japan and mainland China, remained closed due to holidays. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.13%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also advanced 1.48%, led by gains in education services stocks. AI chip designer Shanghai Biren surged more than 100% after debuting on the Hang Seng following a HK$5.58 billion ($717 million) IPO. The offering drew demand of more than 2,300 times even after the greenshoe option, while the international tranche was 25.95 times subscribed.

Singapore’s economy grew 5.7% year on year in the fourth quarter, supported by strong manufacturing growth in the three months to December. The figure topped the revised 4.3% growth in the previous quarter. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his New Year message that the economy expanded by a stronger-than-expected 4.8% for the whole of 2025.

At the Asia open, U.S. equity futures were higher. S&P futures rose 0.15%, Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.12%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 0.16%.

On Wednesday in the U.S., the S&P 500 fell 0.74%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.76%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.63%. However, the S&P 500 is up 16.39% year to date.

The Nasdaq Composite has risen 20.36% on AI enthusiasm, while the Dow lagged due to less representation from the technology sector, gaining 12.97% in 2025.