Asia report: Stocks mixed as tech volatility continues

(Sharecast News) - Asian equity markets finished mixed on Monday, with gains in Japan and losses in South Korea as heavyweight tech stocks diverged amid ongoing volatility across the global AI and semiconductor sectors. Japan's Nikkei 225 finished 2.3% higher after hitting its lowest in nearly seven months on Friday, with Renesas Electronics, Disco and Furukawa Electric among the better performers.

Chip group Renesas, which has faced heavy selling pressure over the past month, last week unveiled a new RZ/T2N microprocessor designed for industrial automation and robotics.

Seoul's Kospi fell 0.8%, reversing earlier gains as investors remained cautious following recent tumultuous moves in the tech sector as markets reassessed the potential impact of a political shift in Washington on AI investments and data centre development. Heavyweight semiconductor groups SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics finished broadly flat after as earlier gains faded by the close.

"A fragile recovery in markets was seen across Asia and Europe on Monday," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. "Investors are clearly not ready to put the AI slowdown-related fears unleashed by the Democratic blue wave in the midterms behind them."

In Taiwan, semiconductor shares helped drive the benchmark TAIEX index nearly 5% higher, with blue chip contract semiconductor foundry TSMC among the leading tech stocks recovering from last week's losses. The chipmaker had reported a 50.9% year-on-year increase in third-quarter revenue to TWD1.49trn in its latest results, while net income rose 68.7%.

Markets were also reacting to economic data showing Taiwanese exports surged 59% year-on-year to a record-high $97bn in October amid strong demand for AI hardware.

Elsewhere, Chinese producer price inflation rose to 5.7% year-on-year in October from 5% in September, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, marking its highest level since June 2022. The statistics bureau said energy-related sectors, including oil and gas extraction and petroleum refining, accounted for more than 80% of the increase, reflecting higher fuel demand ahead of winter and rising global energy prices.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.1% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1%.