Asian stock markets turned in a turbulent Thursday, with China-exposed exchanges gaining after US midterm elections and tech-heavy trading floors elsewhere flashing red.
Hong Kong rallied, Shanghai edged up, but Tokyo fell and Seoul's semiconductor-laden KOSPI logged a region-leading 5.3% decline.
Brent crude futures rose 1.7% to $95.67 a barrel, during Asian market hours.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly, but fell to the bell, finishing down 1.8% due to sagging AI- and semiconductor-exposed shares.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1,110.73 to 61,077.90, though gaining issues outnumbered losers 161 to 63, as losses were concentrated among tech issues.
Leading the upside was health-and-tech conglomerate Teijin, up 17% after reporting earnings, while data-center components maker Furukawa Electric declined 17%.
In economic news, Japan's composite purchasing managers index, a combination of indicators from the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 52.1 last month from 52.3 in September, but still struck above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction for the 19th-straight month.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher on overnight Wall Street cues and rose to the close, concluding up 3.7% on strength in tech and property issues.
The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 877.48 to 24,796.98, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 82 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 5.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 4.3%.
Leading the upside was Sino Biopharmaceutical, gaining 9.2%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 6.9%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,689.91.
On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 3.2%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 2.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index gained 0.5%, and the Thai Set declined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 2.4%.
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1% on the day.
Comments