Sawt Falasteen - Asia stocks make bright start to 2026

Stocks had a bumper 2025, with the S&P adding 16.4 percent, the tech-rich Nasdaq 20.4 percent and London's FTSE enjoying its merriest Christmas in 16 years.

In Asia, Seoul stocks whooshed 75 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index bounced 28 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rocketed more than 26 percent.

"Naturally, the start of the new year comes with the question everyone asks moving from one year to the next: will this continue? The consensus is that, yes, it will," said Kyle Rodda at Australian brokerage Capital.com.

"When it comes to the all important US economy, Wall Street is pricing in growth will accelerate this year while inflation still moderates and interest rates get cut. Meanwhile, analysts predict that corporate fundamentals will improve," Rodda said.

Hong Kong was up 2.2 percent Friday with chip designer Biren Technologies roaring 80 percent higher after its initial public offering.

The Shanghai-based firm's listing raised more than $700 million, suggesting that investor appetite for anything related to artificial intelligenge remains insatiable.

Biren "enjoys scarcity value and high market attention", said Kenny Ng, a strategist at China Everbright Securities.

"The industry is in a flourishing stage, with many firms striving for breakthroughs and significant growth potential," Ng said.

Search-engine giant Baidu jumped almost seven percent after saying its AI chip unit Kunlunxin had filed a listing application in Hong Kong.

Taipei, Sydney, Jakarta, Manila and Singapore also advanced while while Seoul's Kospi, which soared 76 percent in 2025 in large part due to AI boom, was up 1.7 percent.

Samsung Electronics added three percent after co-CEO Jun Young Hyun said customers had praised its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, some saying that "Samsung is back", Bloomberg News reported.

After volatile recent days, following record highs for silver, precious metals started the new year on a bright note with gold up 0.64 percent per ounce and silver 1.5 percent shinier.

Key figures at around 0430 GMT -

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.2 percent at 26,189.79

Shanghai - market closed for holiday

Tokyo - market closed for holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1757 from $1.1750 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3480 from $1.3478

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.84 from 156.66 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.22 pence from 87.18 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $61.17 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $57.74 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 48,063.29 points (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,931.38 (close)

burs-jug-stu/mtp

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST