Stocks Start 2026 Upbeat on Tech, Silver Jumps: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks opened the new year with artificial intelligence and chipmaking once again dominating market moves. Precious metals — another hot corner of the market in 2025 — also advanced.

Asian shares climbed 0.9%, with internet and chip stocks advancing and a regional technology gauge rising to a record. Samsung Electronics Co. touched an all-time high. Baidu Inc. gained 7.5% after its chip unit filed for an IPO, while AI chip designer Shanghai Biren Technology Co. doubled on its Hong Kong trading debut.

Equity-index futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index advanced 0.7%. Spot gold rose 1.3% and silver jumped 2.5%, building on their best annual performances since 1979.

Despite a recent pullback, global stocks in 2025 posted their strongest year since 2019, supported by expectations of stronger earnings and optimism around AI. Even so, uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary policy and elevated valuations among technology companies remain key risks.

“AI is a major trading idea for Asian investors on the first trading day of 2026, and probably for the year too,” said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. Companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung are like “picks and shovels” for the AI industry “with high earnings visibility for the year given the capex plans of US hyperscalers.”

Tech stocks and AI were among the most dominating themes of 2025, helping equities recover from a slump in April caused by President Donald Trump’s century-high US tariffs. Asian companies struck joint ventures with chipmakers such as Nvidia Corp., prompting investors to cheer a wave of similar alliances.

The Nasdaq 100 Index gained 20% last year, a third consecutive year of gains. Nvidia shares rose 39%, while Samsung advanced 126% and TSMC 44%.

Then, in November, Wall Street chief executives said investors should brace for an equity market drop of more than 10% in the next 12 to 24 months, amid concerns about frothy valuations and bubbles among technology companies.

“What we are seeing today is a continuation of the run higher in equities, with AI and tech again at the forefront,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. “Traders are still in a buying mood, with many of the bullish themes from 2025 carrying forward into 2026.”

In other corners of the market, copper and cryptocurrencies also gained, while Australia’s sovereign bonds dropped along with a gauge of the dollar. There was no cash trading in Treasuries during Asian hours due to a holiday in Japan. Markets in mainland China were also shut.

While Asian stocks started off the year on a positive note, market research firm Bespoke Investment Group has cautioned against expecting solid market performance during the first trading day of the new year.

Since 1953, the S&P 500’s median change to kick off a new year has been a 0.3% drop, with gains less than half the time, according to a note by Bespoke. The stock market has also traded lower on the first trading day of each of the past three years, the note said.

However, investors have at least one reason to be optimistic. MSCI’s gauge for global stocks has climbed an average 1.4% in January over the last 10 years and advanced in six of those instances, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

“The end of 2025 was a fizzer in global markets but it doesn’t detract from the fact it was a very good year for investors,” Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note. “Naturally, the start of the new year comes with the question everyone asks moving from one year to the next: will this continue? The consensus is that, yes, it will.”

Corporate News:

Tesla Inc. is expected to report on Friday that it delivered around 440,900 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 11% from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BYD Co. met its full-year sales target and likely surpassed Tesla Inc. to become the world’s largest electric-vehicle maker in 2025. DeepSeek published a paper outlining a more efficient approach to developing AI, illustrating the Chinese artificial intelligence industry’s effort to compete with the likes of OpenAI despite a lack of free access to Nvidia chips. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 1:30 p.m. Tokyo time Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1758 The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.81 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9742 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $88,651.85 Ether rose 0.9% to $3,013.56 Bonds

Australia’s 10-year yield advanced eight basis points to 4.82% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $57.70 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.3% to $4,373.98 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Jeanny Yu, Carmeli Argana, Joanna Ossinger and Ruth Carson.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.