Asian-Pacific markets displayed mixed performance, with several major indices declining due to a sell-off in technology stocks, while others recorded gains.
South Korea Market Performance
South Korean stocks experienced significant declines on two separate days.
- On a Friday, the Kospi index fell by 5.01%, leading regional losses. The small-cap Kosdaq index lost 4.14%. In the technology sector, Samsung Electronics fell 4.34% and SK Hynix dropped 7.57%.
- On a Thursday, the Kospi decreased by 3.86%, closing at 5,163.57. Samsung and SK Hynix saw declines of 5.8% and 6.44%, respectively. Defense firm Hanwha Aerospace fell by 7.33%, and the Kosdaq index decreased by 3.57% to 1,108.41.
- On a Wednesday, however, the Kospi and Kosdaq indices were up, gaining 1.48% and 3.42% respectively.
Japan Market Performance
Japan's Nikkei 225 declined during the period, falling 1.53% on a Friday and 0.88% on a Thursday to close at 53,818.04, retreating from a previous record high. The Topix index declined by 0.88% on a Wednesday and marginally declined to 3,652.41 on a Thursday.
SoftBank Group Corp. shares declined over 7% following reports that chip designer Arm's fiscal third-quarter licensing sales did not meet estimates.
Conversely, Panasonic's stock rose by 8.41% on the same day, despite reporting lower revenue and net profit for its fiscal third quarter ending in December. The company's adjusted operating profit, excluding restructuring costs, increased by 5.59% to 159.1 billion yen ($1.03 billion) compared to the same period the previous year.
The yen strengthened against the dollar, reaching a nearly three-month high of 152.08 on a Tuesday.
Other Asia-Pacific Markets
- Hong Kong: The Hang Seng index declined 0.81% on a Friday and 0.22% on a Thursday. On a Wednesday, it rose by 2.27%, led by energy stocks.
- Mainland China: The CSI 300 was marginally lower on a Friday, down 0.56% on a Thursday, and up 0.47% on a Wednesday.
- Australia: The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.61% on a Friday and 0.43% on a Thursday to close at 8,889.2. On a Wednesday, it reversed initial gains to fall 0.13%. Australia's headline inflation reached 3.6% in the last quarter of 2025, its highest level in six quarters.
- India: The Nifty 50 was slightly higher and the BSE Sensex gained 0.23% on a Friday.
- Southeast Asia: Indonesia's Jakarta Composite experienced a significant drop of over 7.3% on a Wednesday. This followed a statement from index provider MSCI, which warned of a potential downgrade of Indonesia to frontier-market status. MSCI cited investor concerns regarding "fundamental investability issues" due to "opacity in shareholding structures and concerns about possible coordinated trading behaviour that undermines proper price formation."
Regulatory Comment
South Korea's labor minister urged major technology companies to distribute more gains from the AI-driven semiconductor boom to workers and suppliers, citing record profits and potential income inequality.
Commodities
Spot gold prices established a new record, reaching $5,255.71 per ounce.