Market View: Stocks in Asia kickstart 2026 on positive note; KOSPI hits record high, Samsung Electronics says customers praised competitiveness of HBM4 chip; Singapore’s economy expanded 4.8% yoy in 2025; Taiwan, South Korea led rebound in Asia’s manufacturing activity; Looking ahead to Wall Street open; Nio, Mandarin Oriental to watch

Singapore shares rose in the first trading session of 2026 today. The Straits Times Index was up 0.4% at 4,664.97 points at 12.31pm Singapore time, with a value turnover of S$418.45M seen in the broader market. In terms of counters to watch, we have Nio, after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker said it had new record-high monthly and quarterly deliveries. Meanwhile, from how Singapore’s economy expanded 4.8 per cent year on year in 2025 to how Samsung Electronics said its customers have praised the differentiated competitiveness of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, or HBM4, more economic and corporate headlines remained in focus. Also on deck, how US markets are expected to kickstart the year in the first trading session of 2026. On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.