Asian stock markets largely fell back on Tuesday as traders again warily eyed rich tech-sector valuations, monitored bond and share prices of US-based neocloud operator CoreWeave (CRWV), and weighed higher crude bills.
During Asian market hours, shares in CoreWeave, considered a bellwether for the indebted AI-sector, traded down 4.1%, in Wall Street after-bell trades.
With tech concerns defining sentiments, Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the red, while Shanghai eked out a gain. Other regional exchanges closed lower, led by a 3.7% divot on Seoul's semiconductor-laden KOSPI index.
Brent crude oil futures rose 1.9% to $111.61 during Asian market hours.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and drifted south, finishing off 1.3% as traders backed away from AI- and semiconductor-related companies, and awaited the pending bulk of Japan's earnings season.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 841.28 to 64,075.42, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 143 to 77.
Leading the upside was entertainment-house Toho, up 4.9%, while semiconductor- materials maker Resonac declined 10.8%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and weakened thereafter, closing down 1.3% on soft tech and property issues.
The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 319.09 to 23,867.74, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 63 to 31. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.1%.
Leading the upside was Hansoh Pharmaceutical, gaining 8.3%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 10%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,735.37.
In economic news, the People's Bank of China kept its key interest rates unchanged at 3% for one-year loans, and 3.5% for five-year loans.
On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 1.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 1.1%.
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 1.3% on the day.
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