APAC Market Wrap - Dec 31

China Stock Market: Looking back on the year, the ChiNext Index took the lead with nearly 50% annual gains. The Shanghai Composite broke above 4,000 on October 28 for a decade high, while total A-share market cap hit nearly 109 trillion yuan—adding 23 trillion yuan YTD and setting a new record.  

 

Sectors like CPO (optical modules), memory chips, commercial aerospace, and non-ferrous metals led the charge. From a funding perspective, total turnover on Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges topped 400 trillion yuan, up over 60% YoY—a new annual high.

 

Hong Kong Stock Market: Hong Kong markets closed early for New Year’s, wrapping up 2025 trading. At today’s close, the Hang Seng Index was up 27.77% YTD to 25,630.54 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index up 23.45% to 5,515.98 points, and the H-share Index up 22.27% to 8,913.68 points.  

 

All three indices posted full-year gains, but on this final light-volume day, they drifted lower: Hang Seng −0.87%, Tech −1.12%, H-shares −0.86%.

 

Cinema, airlines, and crypto-related stocks rose, while robotics and pharma lagged.

 

Japan Stock Market: Closed.

 

Korea Stock Market:Closed.

 

Australia Stock Market:The S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.03% to 8,714.30 points. Industrial distribution, education, and semiconductors gained, while restaurants, agriculture, and medical distribution fell.

 

Singapore Stock Market:The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.20% to 4,646.21 points. Hardware, forestry products, and business services rose, while personalized services, industrial distribution, and auto parts declined.

 

Malaysia Stock Market:The FTSE Malaysia KLSE Index fell 0.26% to 1,680.11 points. Healthcare, real estate, and business trusts rose, while utilities, communications/media, and closed-end funds eased lower.

Key Events  

Precious metals slump again! CME raises margins for second time in a week  

 

As precious metals swung wildly the past few days, CME Group raised trading margins on gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures for the second time in a week.  

 

The December 30 announcement said margins rise after Wednesday’s close, based on “market volatility assessment” to ensure adequate collateral. This is CME’s third silver margin hike this month.

 

India says GDP surpasses Japan, on track to third place in three years  

 

India’s Press Information Bureau released a year-end economic report December 29 saying India’s GDP has overtaken Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy.  

 

The report, titled “2025: A Pivotal Year for India’s Economic Growth,” says India could pass Germany in 2.5–3 years to rank third behind the U.S. and China. By 2030, GDP is projected at $7.3 trillion.

Institutional Views  

Guojin Securities: Silver has higher short-term elasticity

 

Guojin notes that heading into 2026, while “AI unknowns” still drive pricing, disorder favors gold. Gold has already shone as insurance for AI holdings. Silver, with both “gold-like” and AI-power attributes, offers stronger short-term elasticity. But once AI narratives clarify, gold and silver may return to rational pricing.

 

Huaxi Securities: Precious metals high volatility likely to persist short-term  

 

Huaxi says short-term volatility in precious metals could continue. Silver, platinum, and palladium—limited by liquidity and capacity—face larger pullbacks, while gold and base metals should hold up better and stabilize first. Short-term strategy: defensive until sentiment exhausts. Medium- to long-term, Fed easing and weak dollar logic remain intact—deep corrections (e.g., gold >10%) would be excellent dip-buying windows.

 

CITIC Securities: Internet sector AI narrative strengthens, vertical tracks show structural opportunities  

 

CITIC says 2025 saw the internet sector grind higher amid external noise, driven by AI value re-rating and liquidity improvement. For 2026, AI remains the core catalyst: model iteration, application rollout, and earnings delivery will reinforce the narrative; model company listings could benchmark valuations and lift AI business re-ratings.

 

For lower-AI-exposure names, earnings visibility and valuation appeal are key—favor stable competitive patterns, resilient earnings leaders, high-growth supply-innovation tracks, and absolute-return low-valuation plays.