People celebrate the New Year at the Bank of China building in Central in Hong Kong, China, January 1, 2026.
Lam Yik | Reuters
South Korea’s Kospi hit a new record Friday as Asia-Pacific markets kicked off the new year trading mixed.
The Kospi was up 0.21%, after hitting a record high of 4,239.88. The small-cap Kosdaq was 1.32% higher.
Some Asian markets were still closed for the holidays, including Japan and mainland China. South Korea’s markets will open an hour later, at 10 a.m. local time.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was marginally down.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 25,648, marginally higher than the last close of 25,630.54.
Singapore’s economy expanded 5.7% year on year for the fourth quarter, driven mainly by strong manufacturing growth in the three months through December. The latest reading is faster than the revised 4.3% growth in the previous quarter.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his New Year message that the country had clocked a stronger-than-expected 4.8% expansion for the full year of 2025.
U.S. stock futures were looking up in early Asian hours, with S&P futures up by 0.15% and Nasdaq-100 futures climbing 0.12%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.16% higher.
On Wednesday stateside, the S&P 500 dipped 0.74%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.76% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.63%.
However, the S&P 500 still locked in a 16.39% gain year to date.
The Nasdaq Composite rode AI enthusiasm to a 20.36% advance, and the Dow rose 12.97% in 2025, hindered a bit by its lack of tech representation.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
