South Korea Financial Markets
Dealers watch computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.
As featured on
Asian shares are mostly higher, with Japan’s benchmark hitting a record high, as investors were cheered by an overnight Wall Street rally that seemed to reflect optimism about the artificial-intelligence boom. Benchmarks were also higher in early Wednesday trading in South Korea, Australia and China. The rise on the Tokyo Stock Exchange came despite China's move to restrict exports to 40 Japanese companies and organizations it says are contributing to Japan’s “remilitarization.” On Wall Street, the S&P 500 recovered nearly three-quarters of its loss from the day before over worries about AI. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq gained 1%.
