(Jan 9): Emerging Asian stocks ticked up on Friday, with Taiwan and South Korea notching weekly gains, while regional currencies slipped as the dollar held firm ahead of closely watched US jobs data later in the day. The MSCI emerging Asia equities index and the broader global EM gauge were little changed, but were on track for a third consecutive weekly rise. In East Asia, South Korea's Kospi index closed up 0.8%, recouping early losses on the back of a 0.1% rise in chipmaker Samsung Electronics. Currencies in emerging Asia were on the back foot as the dollar index rose for a fourth consecutive day. Taiwan's dollar slipped to 31.668 against the dollar, its weakest point since early May last year.

Source: The Edge Markets January 09, 2026 08:07 UTC