Last Day of 2026 – Asia Market Wrap

Equities were a touch weaker on the final trading day of 2025, trimming some of the gains that have powered global stocks to a third annual advance. Asian shares edged lower on Wednesday and equity-index futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes both fell 0.1%. That was after the underlying gauges retreated in New York on Tuesday. Trading is relatively light as a number of markets are already shut for the year, including Japan and South Korea. Silver plunged 6%, while gold edged up.

The MSCI All Country World Index – one of the broadest measures of the equity market – has still risen 21% this year, supported by Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts and enthusiasm over artificial intelligence. Silver outperformed most assets, surging 150%. Asian equities are primed for their best year since 2017.

Precious metals have had a bumper year, with gold and silver both set for their best annual jump since 1979. Bitcoin, however, was poised for its second annual decline in four years. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar slumped 8.1% this year, the biggest drop since 2017.

Equities climbed to all-time highs in 2025 as optimism over economic growth, corporate earnings and a looser monetary policy helped markets rebound from an April slump that was triggered by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Still, heading into 2026, investors face elevated valuations and growing divisions among policymakers over the scope for further easing, as evidenced by the minutes of the Fed’s December meeting published Tuesday.

Elsewhere, oil headed for its deepest annual loss since the pandemic in 2020, with prices undermined by concerns about a punishing surplus that’s set to dominate market sentiment and trading into the new year.