Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday during 2026’s first day of trading, following a slump on Wall Street.
By 12:20 pm AEDT (1:20 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 8,713.60 points, South Korea’s Kospi 200 rose 0.7% to 610.05 while the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed until 5 January.
All three markets were closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. The ASX was largely flat on New Year’s Eve, and the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.4% on 30 December, its final trading day of the year.
Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index data for Australia, South Korea, Indonesia and India will be published today.
In the United States, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7% during 2025’s last trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8%.
Across 2025, all three major indices finished at least 13% higher.
Brent crude prices fell 0.8% to US$60.85 per barrel during the year’s final trading day, having begun 2025 at almost $74 per barrel.
Spot gold dipped 0.8% to $4,312.39 per ounce, and was up 65% across 2025.
The Shanghai Composite was up 0.1% to 3,968.84 on 31 December. The CSI 300 fell by 0.5% to 4,629.94.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.9% lower at 25,630.54 while India’s BSE Sensex was flat at 85,188.60.
European markets were mixed, with the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down 0.1% to 9,931.38. Germany’s DAX gained 0.6% to 24,490.41, and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.2% to 8,149.50.
