Shares climb in Asia, and South Korea's Kospi hits a record close, in an upbeat start to 2025

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BANGKOK (AP) — Asian markets began 2026 with gains, with South Korea's benchmark closing Friday at a record high, while U.S. futures and oil prices also advanced.

Optimism over the future of artificial intelligence has carried over into the new year, driven by expectations that it will spur demand for computer chips and other items needed to build out data centers and the other infrastructure it requires.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.6% to 26,283.53 on a strong rally in tech shares.

E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 3.7% and Baidu, maker of the Ernie chatbot, jumped 9.5% after it said it plans to spin off its artificial intelligence computer chip unit Kunlunxin, which would list shares in Hong Kong early 2027. The plan is subject to regulatory approvals.

South Korea’s Kospi picked up 2.3% to 4,309.63 as the market's biggest heavyweight, Samsung Electronics, shot up 7.2%. SK Hynix, which makes computer chips used for AI and has partnered with Nvidia, gained 4%.

Markets were closed in Tokyo, Shanghai, Thailand and New Zealand.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged 0.2% higher, to 8,727.30.

Taiwan's Taiex was up 1.3% and the Sensex in India added 0.6%.

Recent manufacturing data for much of the region has been relatively weak, though trade has remained resilient.

“Exports from most countries have surged in recent months, and we think the near-term outlook for Asia’s export-oriented manufacturing sectors remains favorable,” Shivaan Tandon of Capital Economics said in a report.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks finished 2025 with a fourth day of losses, despite strong gains for the year.

The S&P 500 gave up 0.7% to 6,845.50 and the Dow fell 0.6% to 48,063.29. The Nasdaq composite closed 0.8% lower at 23,241.99.

The S&P 500 set 39 record highs in 2025 and closed 16.4% higher for the year. The Nasdaq gained 20.4% and the Dow finished 13% higher.

Wall Street’s 2025 gains came as investors embraced the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential for boosting profits across almost all sectors. But the market had no shortage of turbulence along the way amid

President Donald Trump eventually put his on-again, off-again tariffs on imported goods worldwide on pause while negotiating trade deals, helping to calm frayed nerves.

Strong corporate profits and three cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve also helped drive markets higher.

Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in January.

The Labor Department reported that fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market.

All of the sectors in the S&P 500 closed in the red Wednesday, with technology stocks the biggest drag on the market. Western Digital fell 2.2% and Micron Technology lost 2.5%. Both were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 this year.

In other dealings early Friday, silver gained 4% after giving back 9.4% on Wednesday. It gained more than 140% in 2025.

Gold picked up 1%. It closed out the year with a 63.7% gain.

U.S. benchmark crude gained 46 cents to $57.88 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, was up 45 cents at $61.30 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 156.87 Japanese yen from 156.75 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1737 from $1.1746.