Asian markets were mostly lower on Tuesday as renewed pressure on semiconductor and artificial intelligence stocks outweighed an overnight rebound on Wall Street, with South Korea again among the weakest markets in the region.
Australia finished lower after recovering sharply from its intraday low, while Japan and Hong Kong also declined and mainland Chinese equities remained relatively resilient.
ASX recovers from sharp early fall
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 32 points, or 0.36%, lower at 8,813.60 after recovering from an intraday low of 8,747.30.
The index opened at its previous close of 8,845.70 and spent most of the session in negative territory before a late recovery reduced the losses.
Resources and financial stocks were among the main drags, while investors continued to assess the outlook for commodity demand and global interest rates.
The close reversed part of Monday’s 0.44% gain, when the benchmark finished at 8,845.70.
South Korea leads regional losses
South Korea’s Kospi was down around 3% during afternoon trading after falling close to 5% earlier in the session as semiconductor and AI-related stocks came under renewed selling pressure.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the major technology names caught in the weakness as investors continued to reassess valuations following the sharp run-up in AI-linked stocks.
The move came despite a rebound in US technology shares overnight, highlighting continued volatility across Asian semiconductor markets.
Nikkei falls as technology stocks remain under pressure
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was around 0.9% lower in afternoon trading near 64,350, having fallen further earlier in the session.
Technology and semiconductor companies remained under pressure as investors continued to reduce exposure to some of the strongest performers from the recent AI investment boom.
The decline came despite a stronger Nasdaq session in New York, suggesting concerns around valuations and capital spending remain a dominant theme in Asian trading.
Hong Kong lower, China steadier
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down close to 1% as technology stocks weighed on the market following its return from the previous session’s holiday.
Mainland Chinese equities were more resilient, with the Shanghai Composite trading close to flat around 3,730 as investors continued to digest stronger-than-expected third-quarter economic growth data released earlier in the week.
China’s economy expanded 4.5% year on year in the September quarter, helping to provide some support to domestic equities despite broader regional weakness.
Taiwan holds near flat
Taiwan’s Taiex was trading close to flat after an initially weaker start, with semiconductor stocks remaining volatile following the recent sharp swings across global technology markets.
The market has been particularly sensitive to moves in US chip stocks and changing expectations around the pace of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.
India closed for holiday
Indian sharemarkets were closed on Tuesday for Dussehra following losses in the previous session.
The Nifty 50 closed Monday at 22,888.95, down 1.1%, while the Sensex also finished lower.
Wall Street rebounds
US markets provided a stronger lead overnight as technology stocks recovered from recent selling.
The Nasdaq Composite gained around 1.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped around 0.1%.
The rebound followed several volatile sessions for semiconductor and AI-related stocks as investors weighed strong long-term demand against concerns about valuations and the scale of spending on new data centres and computing capacity.
Oil remains elevated
Brent crude was trading close to US$110 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate remained around US$104 as geopolitical risks continued to support energy prices.
Gold was near US$4,140 an ounce, while copper was around US$6.54 a pound.
Bitcoin was trading around US$82,000 after remaining volatile alongside other risk assets.
