Asia Stock Markets Welcome Fall in Global Oil Prices, South Korea's KOSPI Leads Global Market Rally

Asia-Pacific stock markets rose at the opening of trade on Thursday, 5 March 2026. South Korea’s KOSPI led the gains as blue-chip stocks surged and the won strengthened.

Major indices in Asia recovered after several days of losses amid the Middle East geopolitical tensions. Market sentiment improved following Wall Street’s rally and fading concerns over oil price spikes, pushing indices in several countries higher.

Today the indices jumped more than 12 percent, trimming losses from the previous day. The technology-laden KOSDAQ rose more than 11 percent.

S.Korean SK Hynix stock surged 15 percent, followed by a 14 percent jump in Samsung Electronics. The won strengthened by 0.14 percent against the US dollar to 1,460.60.

“The sell-off was driven largely by fears of higher oil prices stemming from the evolving geopolitical developments,” said Raisah Rasid, Global Market Strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, quoted by CNBC International on Thursday, 5 March 2026.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 also surged about 4 percent after a 3 percent fall in the prior session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.38 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng moved higher to 25,534 from 25,249.48.

In the US, stocks extended the rally seen at the end of the prior session, aided by a retreat in oil prices and diminishing concerns about a slowdown in US growth.

Technology stocks led the broader market, particularly chipmakers. Micro Technology and Advanced Micro Devices each rose more than 5 percent, while Broadcom and Nvidia climbed more than 1 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 238.14 points, or 0.49 percent, to 48,739.41, snapping a three-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 gained 0.78 percent to end at 6,869.50. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.29 percent to 22,807.48.