Asia Market Wrap 25 August: Nine of 11 Benchmarks Rise Before Nvidia Earnings
Asian equities were broadly higher on Tuesday, with nine of the 11 benchmarks we track advancing as investors positioned ahead of Nvidia’s second quarter results on Wednesday. South Korea produced the sharpest turn, the Kospi closing 0.68 percent higher at 6,742.74 after a heavily negative start, recouping roughly a fifth of Monday’s 3.1 percent loss. The Kosdaq, which had also risen on Monday, led Tuesday’s table with a further 1.70 percent gain to 827.15. Only Hong Kong and Shenzhen finished lower, and both by less than 0.4 percent.
Seoul’s recovery followed Monday’s fall in Samsung Electronics, which dropped more than 8 percent in early trade after a record capital return announcement disappointed investors looking for clarity on buybacks and cancellations. Samsung put its 2026 shareholder return at 90 trillion to 110 trillion won, around five times its previous record, with roughly 30 trillion won of third quarter cash dividends. It separately approved a 15 trillion won share repurchase for employee compensation, rather than for cancellation. The remainder of the 2026 return is to be decided at the January board meeting once results are confirmed, and the company said it will include cash dividends and share buybacks or cancellations.
Investors contrasted that with SK Hynix, which on 19 August announced a 40 trillion won repurchase to be cancelled in full on completion, and expanded its shareholder return target from within 50 percent to over 50 percent of cumulative free cash flow across 2025 to 2027. Its shares rose more than 12 percent in Seoul on 20 August.
Singapore and Taiwan were the next strongest. The Straits Times rose 0.97 percent to 5,735.68 and the Taiex added 0.91 percent to 45,169.46. Japan’s two benchmarks moved almost identically, the Nikkei 225 up 0.50 percent at 65,856.43 and the Topix up 0.50 percent at 4,093.67. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.68 percent to 9,164.60 and India’s Nifty 50 added 0.48 percent to 24,334.55.
Mainland China lagged. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.19 percent to 3,889.45 while the Shenzhen Component fell 0.35 percent to 13,745.87, and the Hang Seng was almost unchanged at 25,511.10, down 0.02 percent. Hong Kong was also absorbing Alibaba’s placement of 710 million new shares at 112.70 Hong Kong dollars each, raising 80 billion Hong Kong dollars or about 10.2 billion dollars, with the company committing all of the net proceeds to its full stack artificial intelligence capabilities including expanding its AI infrastructure.
Gulf markets, whose Tuesday sessions close after our Asia cut-off, ended Monday broadly higher, led by the MSCI Tadawul 30 at plus 1.02 percent, with only Oman and Egypt lower. Those closes are carried in the reference table below.
The largest move in the cross-asset snapshot was in energy. ICE Brent for October delivery was down 2.82 percent at 89.57 dollars a barrel and West Texas Intermediate for October down 2.99 percent at 82.47 dollars, both extending losses of more than 2 percent on Monday. Reuters reported that investors largely shrugged off the expanded United States sanctions package announced on 24 August, with analysts describing the measures as marginal rather than market moving and reading a pivot toward economic pressure as a lower immediate risk to physical supply than military escalation. Profit taking after a two week rally added to the decline. Separately, crude held in the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell 3.7 million barrels in the week to 21 August to 289.7 million, the lowest since November 1982, on Department of Energy data. Commercial crude inventories are a different series and stood at 428.8 million barrels in the latest Energy Information Administration weekly report, for the week to 14 August.
In data, the Bank of Korea’s August consumer survey put the composite consumer sentiment index at 104.5, down 2.3 points from July. Taiwan’s July labour report, published on Monday, showed the unemployment rate rising 0.05 percentage point to 3.39 percent as new graduates entered the labour market, while the seasonally adjusted rate was unchanged at 3.33 percent.
Currencies and rates were comparatively quiet. The dollar was marginally firmer against the yen at 159.26 and little changed against the euro at 1.1661, while the 10 year Treasury yield eased about 4 basis points to 4.668 percent. December gold was almost flat at 4,695.30 dollars while September silver fell 1.07 percent to 67.86 dollars, and bitcoin added 0.72 percent to 79,370.28 dollars.
Asia equities, 25 August close
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Kosdaq (South Korea) | 827.15 | +1.70% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,735.68 | +0.97% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 45,169.46 | +0.91% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,742.74 | +0.68% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 9,164.60 | +0.68% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 65,856.43 | +0.50% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,093.67 | +0.50% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 24,334.55 | +0.48% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,889.45 | +0.19% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 25,511.10 | -0.02% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 13,745.87 | -0.35% |
US and Europe, 24 August close, for reference
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| FTSE 100 (United Kingdom) | 10,854.32 | +0.35% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,417.16 | +0.26% |
| DAX (Germany) | 26,106.60 | -0.11% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 (euro area) | 6,447.98 | -0.22% |
| S&P 500 | 7,652.86 | -0.28% |
| CAC 40 (France) | 8,453.01 | -0.37% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,995.08 | -0.76% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,980.19 | -0.77% |
Middle East equities, 24 August close, for reference
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| MSCI Tadawul 30 (Saudi Arabia) | 1,505.33 | +1.02% |
| Tadawul All Share (Saudi Arabia) | 11,174.13 | +0.86% |
| QE Index (Qatar) | 9,740.64 | +0.54% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 10,048.29 | +0.44% |
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,865.58 | +0.15% |
| Bahrain All Share | 1,947.07 | +0.14% |
| Kuwait Premier Market | 9,318.71 | +0.11% |
| Kuwait All-Share | 8,900.41 | +0.08% |
| Amman ASE General (Jordan) | 4,009.75 | +0.06% |
| Nomu Parallel Market (Saudi Arabia) | 21,645.74 | 0.00% |
| MSX 30 (Oman) | 7,501.05 | -0.11% |
| EGX 30 (Egypt) | 55,164.84 | -0.34% |
Commodities, intraday 25 August
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| COMEX gold, December 2026 | $4,695.30 | -0.05% |
| COMEX silver, September 2026 | $67.86 | -1.07% |
| ICE Brent crude, October 2026 | $89.57 | -2.82% |
| WTI crude, October 2026 | $82.47 | -2.99% |
Currencies, rates, volatility and crypto, intraday 25 August
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $79,370.28 | +0.72% |
| USD/KWD, Central Bank of Kuwait | 0.306850 | +0.03% |
| GBP/USD | 1.3632 | +0.01% |
| EUR/USD | 1.1661 | -0.01% |
| VIX | 15.81 | -0.25% |
| USD/JPY | 159.26 | +0.11% |
| US 10-year Treasury yield | 4.668% | -4 bp |
| USD/EGP, Central Bank of Egypt | 50.7590 buy / 50.8974 sell | official rate, 24 August |
Asian closes captured after each market’s close on 25 August 2026. Commodities, currencies, rates, volatility and crypto are a single intraday snapshot taken at 13:45 Kuwait time and may differ from later screen values. Sources: CNBC for index, commodity and rate levels; Central Bank of Kuwait; Central Bank of Egypt; Bank of Korea; Taiwan Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics; United States Department of Energy; Energy Information Administration; Samsung Electronics; SK Hynix; Alibaba Group; Reuters; The Edge calculations.
WHAT IS AHEAD
Wednesday carries the week’s heaviest load. Nvidia reports second quarter results after the United States close, late on Wednesday Kuwait time, and is the dominant catalyst for Asian semiconductor and technology names on Thursday. The United States releases July personal consumption expenditures inflation the same morning, Australia publishes July inflation, and the Bank of Thailand decides on rates.
The Bank of Korea meets later this week, a month after raising its base rate 25 basis points to 2.75 percent on 16 July, its first increase in three and a half years. The Jackson Hole symposium runs from Thursday to Saturday, with the Federal Reserve chair’s keynote on Friday, when Tokyo also publishes August consumer prices.
