(Dec 24): Asian stocks advanced at the open on Wednesday after the S&P 500 Index climbed to a record, supported by data showing the US economy grew at its fastest pace in two years.
MSCI’s regional equities gauge extended its gains into a fourth day, rising 0.3%, with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea advancing. Australian shares edged lower in a shortened trading session. That came after the S&P 500 rose for a fourth day, with a gauge of big tech climbing almost 1% amid low volume ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Attention was on the commodities market with gold rallying to a new record of more than US$4,500 ($5,769.65) an ounce. Gold’s haven appeal has been amplified in the last week by Washington’s blockade of oil tankers linked to Venezuela. Silver also reached an all-time high, while copper prices topped US$12,000 a ton for the first time.
The geopolitical tensions extended oil’s rally into a sixth straight session, with West Texas Intermediate crude trading above US$58.50 a barrel.
Risk appetite has remained firm heading into year-end, with technology stocks in demand even as strong US growth data scaled back bets on near-term US Federal Reserve (Fed) easing. After earlier concerns over high valuations and the billions pouring into artificial intelligence, traders are regaining confidence that companies will deliver solid earnings growth in 2026.
“If consumers remain resilient through the holiday and the fourth quarter, it should bode well for US gross domestic product (GDP) and corporate earnings,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro. “Earnings have continued to surprise to the upside. Bulls are hoping to see this trend continue in 2026.”
See also: Stock surge, currency gains fuel 2026 investor optimism for Asia
Inflation-adjusted US GDP expanded in the third quarter at a 4.3% annualised pace, higher than all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
The economy maintained momentum through the middle of the year as consumers powered ahead and the most punitive of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were rolled back. While the October-November US government shutdown is expected to weigh on fourth-quarter growth, economists expect a modest rebound in 2026.
See also: Asian stocks poised to extend record global rally
In other corners of the market, the won strengthened after authorities warned against excessive weakness in the currency. The increased rhetoric comes as the currency neared the psychologically important 1,500-per-dollar level — a threshold breached only during the global financial crisis and the Asian currency meltdown in 1997.
Treasuries steadied on Wednesday, while a Bloomberg gauge of the dollar extended its slide into a third day. The dollar is heading for its worst annual performance in eight years, and the options market is signaling that traders are preparing for more downside in the final sessions of 2025 and beyond.
The session after Christmas has historically been the most consistently positive day of the year for stocks, according to Bespoke Investment Group. In the 39 years since 1953 when the market was open on Dec 26, the S&P 500 has only declined six times.
“We are set up for a Santa Claus rally,” Kieran Calder, the UBP head of equity research, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “The market is taking some of the data pretty positively.”
Meanwhile, Trump said he expects his Fed chair to lower rates if the market is doing well, the latest signal that the US president is eager for a nominee committed to borrowing cost cuts as he nears an announcement of his choice to replace Jerome Powell.
Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent backed the idea of reconsidering the Fed’s 2% inflation target once the US has sustainably brought price increases back down to that pace.
Money markets see a less than 20% chance of a Fed reduction in January.
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“The economy is demonstrating a Goldilocks scenario with above-potential US economic growth, and declining but elevated inflation and a less robust labour market,” said Eric Teal at Comerica Wealth Management. “The Fed will likely maintain a dovish bias, which will only increase with a new Fed chair next year.”
Separately, India’s central bank announced fresh measures aimed at boosting banking liquidity with government bond purchases and foreign-exchange swaps aimed at supporting a weakening rupee, which has emerged as Asia’s worst-performing currency this year.
Corporate highlights:
- Orsted A/S agreed to sell a majority stake in a Taiwanese wind farm to local firm Cathay as it presses ahead with plans to repair its balance sheet.
- Ken Griffin’s Citadel will return about US$5 billion of profits earned this year, bringing its assets under management to US$67 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Novo Nordisk A/S won approval to sell a pill version of its blockbuster obesity shot Wegovy in the US, a crucial step in its effort to defend its market share from rival Eli Lilly & Co.
- Samsung Electronics Co-owned Harman International is buying a key driver-assistance business from Germany’s ZF Group for EUR1.5 billion (US$1.8 billion or $2.3 billion), as financial stress across Europe’s auto-supplier sector forces companies to rethink their portfolios.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10am Tokyo time
- Hang Seng futures rose 0.1%
- Japan’s Topix rose 0.1%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
- The euro was little changed at US$1.1799
- The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 155.99 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0163 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin was little changed at US$87,617.29
- Ether was little changed at US$2,973
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.16%
- Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 2.025%
- Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.77%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to US$58.51 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.7% to US$4,513.80 an ounce
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
