Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday even as regional trading volumes stayed thin amid the Lunar New Year holidays in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Market sentiments were underpinned by Wall Streets’ gains overnight led by computer chip giant Nvidia. Rebound in technology shares, cooling concerns over artificial intelligence disruption, and a slew of upbeat US economic data have also supported market sentiments. Japanese shares advanced after a sharp depreciation in the yen, which improves the earnings outlook for the country’s export-driven sectors. The rally in Japanese stocks was also sparked by a historic 19.1% surge in core machinery orders for December 2025, the strongest monthly gain since records began in 2005. South Korea's benchmark surpassed the 5,600-point mark for the first time, led by heavyweight semiconductor names.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | -- | -- | -- |
| Hang Seng | -- | -- | -- |
| Jakarta Composite | 8,274.08 | -36.15 | -0.44 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,752.11 | 10.85 | 0.62 |
| Nikkei 225 | 57,467.83 | 323.99 | 0.57 |
| Straits Times | 5,001.56 | 62.98 | 1.28 |
| KOSPI Composite | 5,677.25 | 170.24 | 3.09 |
| Taiwan Weighted | -- | -- | -- |
