Asia report: Stocks mostly higher on tech rally, but Seoul falls
Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Tuesday, with solid gains in Tokyo and Hong Kong after a record finish on the Nasdaq, though shares in Seoul fell on profit-taking in the chip sector.
The Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng indices both gained 1% each, while Mumbai's Sensex jumped 0.8% and Singapore's STI rose 0.5%. Markets in mainland China remained closed for the Golden Week holiday, with trading set to resume on Thursday.
AI and chip stocks were performing well, including Advantest and Hitachi in Tokyo and Baidu, Kuaishou and Alibaba in Hong Kong.
"Asia opens with the equity bid intact. US tech dragged the S&P 500 back to within touching distance of a record even as long-end yields remain near multi-decade highs," said market commentator Stephen Innes at the start of the trading session in Asia.
"The old rates playbook is becoming less reliable. Higher yields are no longer translating cleanly into lower equities because AI-heavy earnings streams and balance sheets can absorb a much higher cost of capital than the market was trained to expect."
Markets were also bolstered by falling oil prices, with Brent down 1.4% at $98.94 a barrel on the back of an improving supply outlook in the Middle East.
Over in Seoul, however, South Korean heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were providing a drag as investors booked profits after a solid rally in the stocks over recent weeks.