Most Asian stock markets are closed on Wednesday, the last trading day of 2025, but the region was on track to end the year with strong gains, driven by technology stocks amid rising demand for artificial intelligence, despite periods of volatility related to US trade policy.
With major markets, including Japan, South Korea and many Southeast Asian stock exchanges, closed for the New Year holiday, trading activity was weak across the region.
Wall Street indexes closed slightly lower in afternoon trading, while related futures contracts also declined slightly during Asian trading hours on Wednesday.
Asian stocks made steady gains throughout most of 2025, driven largely by strong performance in the technology and semiconductor sectors.
Investor enthusiasm for adopting artificial intelligence has boosted chip manufacturers, data center operators, and hardware suppliers, helping to raise regional indicators even as overall economic growth remains uneven.
Markets that rely heavily on technology exports, including South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, were among the strongest performing markets this year.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index is expected to have jumped more than 26% over the past year, while South Korea's Kospi is on track to record gains of over 75%. China's Shanghai Composite index could see gains of 18%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has climbed nearly 28%.
