Highlights
- Kospi tumbles more than 3%
- Nikkei slips as tech weighs
- ASX 200 gains around 2.6%
- Hong Kong and China advance
- Oil falls sharply below US$100
Asian market mixed
Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as a powerful Wall Street rally following the US midterm elections collided with renewed selling across artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks.
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, prompting investors to reassess US fiscal policy, regulation and the outlook for the Middle East conflict.
Wall Street surged in response, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 3%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.4%.
Korean tech stocks lead losses
South Korea was the regional laggard, with the Kospi down more than 3% as semiconductor heavyweights came under heavy selling pressure.
Samsung Electronics fell around 6% and SK Hynix dropped more than 7% as investors continued to question stretched AI valuations and the pace of future data-centre investment.
Taiwan also weakened, with the Taiex down around 2%, reflecting similar pressure across semiconductor stocks.
Japan was more resilient but remained under pressure, with the Nikkei 225 modestly lower as weakness in technology names offset strength elsewhere in the market.
Australia and China move higher
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed at around 2.6%, following Wall Street higher and benefiting from a sharp fall in oil prices and stronger precious metals.
Australia's trade surplus widened to A$2.83 billion in September, well above expectations, as exports increased and imports declined.
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese shares were also higher, bucking the weakness across technology-heavy North Asian markets.
Oil plunges, gold surges
Commodities were heavily influenced by the US election result, with Brent crude falling below US$100 a barrel as investors increased bets that Democratic control of Congress could encourage de-escalation of the conflict with Iran.
Brent fell almost 9% overnight, stripping out a substantial portion of its recent geopolitical risk premium.
Gold moved sharply in the opposite direction, climbing more than 3% above US$4,060 an ounce as the US dollar weakened and Treasury yields fell.
Silver gained almost 5%, while copper edged higher around 0.4%.
The contrasting moves left Asian markets divided between stocks benefiting from lower oil, falling yields and a weaker dollar and technology names caught in the latest round of profit-taking from the AI trade.
