Asia Market Wrap 2 October: Hong Kong Falls 2.60 Percent on Reopening and the Kospi Closes Above 7,000
Hong Kong set the tone for a thinned out Friday board. The Hang Seng returned from Thursday’s holiday and fell 2.60 percent to 23,972.29, the region’s deepest fall, measured against Wednesday’s close across a single shut session, while the Kospi rose 0.46 percent to 7,003.74 to finish above the 7,000 line and Sydney led the gainers at 0.79 percent. Tokyo gave back part of Thursday’s surge, the Nikkei 225 down 0.94 percent at 68,309.46 and the Topix 0.99 percent lower, Taiwan edged 0.25 percent higher and Singapore eased 0.58 percent. The mainland China boards stay closed through 7 October and India’s market was shut on Friday, so seven of the ten boards we track traded. With the rest of the Gulf’s weekend underway there is no Middle East wrap today, and the two United Arab Emirates boards, which trade on Friday, are published here: Dubai closed 0.49 percent lower on the exchange’s own daily figure and Abu Dhabi 0.25 percent lower. Crude gave back part of Thursday’s jump ahead of the United States employment report, with Brent 2.38 percent lower at 99.88 dollars, back below 100.
Hong Kong falls on reopening as Seoul finishes above 7,000
The Hang Seng’s 2.60 percent fall to 23,972.29 is measured against Wednesday 30 September’s 24,613.27 close, the exchange having been shut on Thursday per its own holiday notice as disclosed in our Asia Market Wrap of 1 October, so Friday’s reopening priced the shut day in a single session and took the index back below 24,000. Seoul went the other way: the Kospi added 0.46 percent to 7,003.74, its first close above the 7,000 line since 23 September on our published chain, after Thursday’s 1.95 percent rise. Sydney’s 0.79 percent gain to 8,682.10 recovered part of Thursday’s 1.99 percent fall, the deepest on that board, and Taiwan added 0.25 percent to 48,475.74. Tokyo cooled after leading the region on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 easing 0.94 percent to 68,309.46 from the 68,956.72 close it reached on a 3.30 percent surge, with the Topix down 0.99 percent at 4,091.00, and the Straits Times eased 0.58 percent to 5,634.82. India’s market was shut for the Gandhi Jayanti holiday, with the National Stock Exchange’s own index board carrying Thursday’s 22,421.95 close as its latest print at our read, and the mainland China boards are closed for the National Day holiday through 7 October, as disclosed in our 1 October wrap.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi trade through the Gulf weekend as crude slips below 100
The United Arab Emirates boards gave the Gulf its only Friday session. The DFM General Index closed at 5,901.32, down 29.08 points, or 0.49 percent, on the exchange’s own daily closing table, a fourth straight decline on that table, and the FTSE ADX General Index ended at 9,973.01, down 25.23 points, or 0.25 percent, on the exchange’s own board with the market closed, a second straight finish below the 10,000 line it slipped under on Thursday. In the standing rows, crude turned Thursday’s surge around: Brent fell 2.38 percent to 99.88 dollars a barrel on the December contract and WTI 3.85 percent to 89.29, both measured against Thursday’s written settlements, after the network carried a report of a potential coordinated release of diesel and crude stocks, a French proposal for European Union members to release 50 million barrels of diesel and International Energy Agency members 50 million barrels of crude, per a Reuters report citing a single unnamed source, which the network said it could not independently verify, with the European Union holding crisis talks on diesel prices on Friday as the network carried it. Gold added 0.20 percent to 4,210.90 dollars an ounce, holding above the 4,200 line, and the dollar index sat 0.09 percent lower at 102.006 ahead of the United States employment report.
Gainers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 8,682.10 | +0.79% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 7,003.74 | +0.46% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 48,475.74 | +0.25% |
Closing levels for Friday 2 October 2026 from the price feed at 11:40 GMT, read three times between 11:33 and 11:40 with no change on any equity row, gainers ranked by change; changes are against Thursday 1 October closes as published in our Asia Market Wrap of 1 October.
Losers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,634.82 | -0.58% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 68,309.46 | -0.94% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,091.00 | -0.99% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 23,972.29 | -2.60% |
Same basis and reads, ranked from the shallowest to the deepest decline. The Hang Seng row is measured against Wednesday 30 September’s 24,613.27 close across a single shut session, the exchange having been closed on Thursday per its own notice as disclosed in our 1 October wrap. Not shown: the mainland China boards, closed 1 to 7 October for the National Day holiday, and the Nifty 50, with India’s market shut on Friday for the Gandhi Jayanti holiday and the National Stock Exchange’s own index board carrying Thursday’s 22,421.95 close as its latest print at our 11:35 GMT read.
United Arab Emirates
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,901.32 | -0.49% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 9,973.01 | -0.25% |
The United Arab Emirates boards trade on Friday while the rest of the Gulf’s weekend has begun, so with no Middle East wrap today the two are published here. Figures are the exchanges’ own: the Dubai row is DFM’s published daily closing value and change for 2 October, read on the exchange’s own table at 11:35 GMT, and the Abu Dhabi row is the FTSE ADX General Index on the exchange’s own board with the market closed, read at 11:36 GMT; both chains against Thursday’s published closes are exact.
Commodities and currencies
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $4,210.90 | +0.20% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $61.36 | +0.30% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | $99.88 | -2.38% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a barrel | $89.29 | -3.85% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 102.006 | -0.09% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1239 | -0.02% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3208 | +0.07% |
| Dollar/Yen | 157.72 | -0.22% |
Intraday quotes at 11:40 GMT on Friday 2 October 2026, fixed row order as a deliberate exception to ranking; snapshot levels, not settlements, with changes against Thursday’s reference levels as carried in the price feed. The Brent and WTI previous values match Thursday’s written settlements of 102.31 and 92.87 dollars, as published in the network’s settlement report and carried in our US Market Wrap of 1 October, exactly. The Brent row is the December 2026 contract.
Why it matters: Friday’s board is a reopening story and a holiday story at once. Hong Kong priced its shut day in a single reopening session and took the region’s deepest fall, back below 24,000, while the mainland stays closed through 7 October and India sat the day out, leaving seven of our ten boards trading. Seoul’s first finish above 7,000 since 23 September restored a watched line even as Tokyo cooled. The United Arab Emirates pair gave the Gulf its only Friday prints, both lower, and crude’s slide back below 100 dollars on a reported stock release plan, hours before the United States employment report, is the variable the evening sessions inherit.
Outlook: The September United States employment report is due at 15:30 Kuwait time today, with the consensus at 84,000 nonfarm payrolls as carried in our 30 September and 1 October wraps, with tonight’s Europe wrap reading the European move after the release and the US wrap the first full Wall Street session response. On Monday the Hang Seng measures against today’s 23,972.29 and India’s market reopens against Thursday’s 22,421.95, with the mainland boards back on 8 October, as disclosed in our 1 October wrap.
Sources: CNBC, Dubai Financial Market, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, National Stock Exchange of India, The Edge.
