Global Markets See Mixed Performance; Asia-Pacific Varied, Then Declines
Global markets have recently shown a mixed performance, with Asia-Pacific markets experiencing varied results on Wednesday before largely declining on Thursday. Amidst these movements, spot gold prices achieved a new record high, and key regional economic data, such as Australia's inflation, were also released.
Global Market Overview
A broad market index climbed by 0.41% to 6,978.60. This positive shift was supported by gains in major companies including Apple and Microsoft.
Asia-Pacific Market Performance: Wednesday
On Wednesday, Asia-Pacific markets presented a varied picture:
- South Korea: The Kospi index advanced by 1.48%, while the Kosdaq index saw a significant rise of 3.42%.
- Japan: The Nikkei 225 registered a decline of 0.55%, impacting basic materials stocks. The Topix also fell by 0.88%. The yen strengthened against the dollar, reaching 152.08 on Tuesday, marking its strongest level in nearly three months.
- Hong Kong: The Hang Seng Index increased by 2.27%, with energy stocks contributing to the gains.
- Mainland China: The CSI 300 index rose by 0.47%.
- Australia: The S&P/ASX 200 reversed its initial gains to close lower by 0.13%, bringing an end to a three-day period of increases.
- Indonesia: The Jakarta Composite index experienced a substantial decrease of over 7.3%. This followed a statement from index provider MSCI regarding 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."
Asia-Pacific Market Performance: Thursday
Thursday saw Asia-Pacific markets largely in decline, echoing losses on Wall Street driven by a tech sector sell-off.
- South Korea: Seoul's Kospi index decreased by 3.86%, closing at 5,163.57. Chip manufacturers Samsung and SK Hynix recorded declines of 5.8% and 6.44%, respectively. Defense firm Hanwha Aerospace fell by 7.33%. The small-cap Kosdaq index decreased by 3.57% to 1,108.41.
- Japan: The Nikkei 225 closed down 0.88% at 53,818.04, retreating from a previous record high. Shares of SoftBank Group Corp. declined by over 7% following reports that chip designer Arm's fiscal third-quarter licensing sales were below estimates. In contrast, Panasonic's stock increased by 8.41%, despite the company reporting lower revenue and net profit for its fiscal third quarter ending in December. Its adjusted operating profit, excluding restructuring costs, still rose by 5.59% to 159.1 billion yen ($1.03 billion) compared to the same period in the prior year. The broad-based Topix index marginally declined to 3,652.41, also moving from a record high.
- Other Markets: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index decreased by 0.22%. Mainland China's CSI 300 was down 0.56%, with basic materials stocks impacting both indexes. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.43% at 8,889.2.
Commodities and Economic Data
- Gold: Spot gold prices established a new record, reaching $5,255.71 per ounce.
- Australian Inflation: Australia's headline inflation reached 3.6% in the last quarter of 2025, marking its highest level in six quarters.