South Korea’s Kospi hit a new high on Friday, while Asia-Pacific markets started the new year in mixed trade.
Kospi rose by 1.96% and reached a record level. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics was about 6% higher after the firm reportedly said customers were praising its high-bandwidth memory, or HBM chips.
Small company Kosdaq was 1.84% higher.
Some Asian markets were still closed for holidays, including Japan and mainland China.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.43%, with education services stocks leading gains. Artificial intelligence chip designer Shanghai Biren surged more than 100% after debuting on the HSI, following a 5.58 billion ($717 million) Hong Kong dollar initial public offering.
The public offer was over 2,300 times oversubscribed even after the increase option was exercised, while the international offer was 25.95 times oversubscribed, SEEbiz reports.
Elsewhere, Singapore’s economy grew 5.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, driven largely by strong output growth in the three months to 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’s message that the country recorded stronger-than-expected growth of 4.8% for the whole of 2025.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index also hit a record high on Friday, last rising by 0.43%.
India’s Nifty 50 index was higher by 0.41% and the Sensex rose by 0.39%. Shares in casual dining restaurant operator Sapphire Foods fell as much as 5.93% after it said peer Devyani would merge with the firm in a $934 million deal, before paring losses.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.15%.
