(Jan 7): Asian stocks are having their best-ever start to a year, with the region’s currencies and bonds also rallying as investors seek opportunities outside the US.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index is up around 4% in the four trading sessions of 2026, set for its strongest beginning in records going back to 1988, with South Korea and Taiwan leading the gains. A gauge of the region’s currencies has notched its best start since 2023, while dollar-based corporate debt has also rallied.
“US exceptionalism has peaked and is starting to unwind,” Raymond Sagayam, a managing partner at Banque Pictet & Cie SA, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Emerging markets like those in Asia are set to benefit from a number of tailwinds, including attractive valuations and proximity to the AI value chain, he said.
The moves underscore rising appeal of Asian markets for global investors wary of high tech valuations in the US and the prospect of a weakening dollar. It also points to the room left to run in Asia’s tech stocks, with Samsung Electronics Co and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co powering the gains over the past few days.
Tech-heavy benchmarks including South Korea’s Kospi Index and Taiwan’s Taiex Index have jumped 7.4% and 5.6% respectively this year, rising to new records. Chinese stocks have climbed to a four-year high, fuelled by sustained optimism over the country’s AI advances and emerging signs of an economic recovery.
Asian shares have gained for three consecutive years. Even after that rally, the region’s equities are still cheaper compared with US tech stocks. The S&P 500 Index finished up 0.6% on Tuesday to top a closing high hit in late December.
See also: Record Asian stock rally eases on Japan, oil falls
In Asia, companies across the AI supply chain remain inexpensive relative to global peers, said Nick Ferres, the chief investment officer of Vantage Point Asset Management Pte Ltd, which runs an Asia-focused global macro fund in Singapore. “We are only halfway through the AI capex super cycle and associated productivity boom.”
Uploaded by Isabelle Francis
