Asia Markets Close Mixed: Nikkei Falls 1.42 Percent, China Rallies

Asia's stock markets ended Wednesday split in two. Japan and Taiwan fell, China and Hong Kong rallied, and South Korea clawed back a heavy loss to close higher, as investors worked through the same shock from different sides: Democrats had won control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, and traders worried that tighter oversight of artificial intelligence could slow the spending that has lifted chip stocks all year.

Japan took the hardest hit. The Nikkei 225 closed down 893.23 points, or 1.42 percent, at 62,188.63, its third straight decline, Aju Press reported. The broader Topix index fell 34.90 points, or 0.89 percent, to 3,895.38. The close hid a much rougher day. The Nikkei fell as much as 4.8 percent in the session and touched a low of 60,030.10, down 3,051.76 points from its previous close of 63,081.86, before buyers cut the loss in the afternoon, according to market data reported by Upstox. Chip and AI linked shares led the selling in Tokyo, with testing equipment maker Advantest among the largest drags, according to reports on the session.

Seoul swings from a 4 percent fall to a gain

South Korea's Kospi index fell as low as 5,421.72 in the morning, a drop of about 4 percent from its previous close, then recovered through the afternoon to close up 35.01 points, or 0.62 percent, at 5,683.80, Aju Press reported. The session high was 5,828.13. The tech heavy Kosdaq rose 10.56 points, or 1.50 percent, to 714.95, helped by battery materials stocks.

Taiwan moved the other way. The Taiex fell 358.63 points, or 0.83 percent, to 42,948.91 after dropping as low as 41,855.82 during the session, Aju Press and dpa-AFX reporting agreed.

China and Hong Kong lead the gains

Mainland China posted the region's strongest numbers. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.16 percent to 3,686.17, the Shenzhen Component gained 4.22 percent to 11,335.69, and the ChiNext index jumped 6.40 percent to 2,544.73, according to the Asia close wrap carried by RTHK, HKET and the Korea Herald. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose for a fourth straight day, up 393.53 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at its session high of 23,919.50. India's Sensex gained 0.43 percent to 77,246.77, while Australia's S and P/ASX 200 fell 0.59 percent to 8,834.50, dpa-AFX reported.

Europe points lower at the open

Europe was set to start lower. Futures tracking the STOXX 600 were down about 0.2 percent by 0639 GMT, having recouped some losses following a 1.4 percent slide during Asian trade, Reuters reported. Contracts tracking Germany's DAX dipped about 0.2 percent, while futures on Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.4 percent. Tech stocks were in focus in Europe too, after the Democratic sweep fuelled concern that tighter AI regulation could dampen investment in the sector, Reuters reported. European shares had closed lower on Tuesday, with the STOXX 600 down 0.58 percent.

Key numbers

Nikkei 225: 62,188.63, down 1.42 percent. Topix: 3,895.38, down 0.89 percent. Kospi: 5,683.80, up 0.62 percent. Hang Seng: 23,919.50, up 1.67 percent. Shanghai Composite: 3,686.17, up 2.16 percent. Taiex: 42,948.91, down 0.83 percent.