ASIA MIDDAY MOVES | Seoul's KOSPI Jumps 1.7% at Midday as Softer US Jobs Data Eases Fed Hike Fears; Hong Kong Flat

According to Yonhap, HKET and Sina Finance, Asian equities firmed at midday Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected US August ADP private-payrolls print eased worries the Federal Reserve could resume rate hikes, while a stronger yen pulled the dollar and US Treasury yields back from recent highs. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 traded higher through the lunch break, standing at 64,583.46, up 0.40% or 257.82 points, as of 04:33 UTC. Chip-sector names advanced, with Tokyo Electron up 1.21% and Advantest up 0.18%, while Sony eased 0.33%. Seoul's KOSPI led regional gains, rebounding 1.66% or 108.69 points to 6,671.41 as of 04:33 UTC, recovering from the prior session's roughly 4% slide. Samsung Electronics rose 1.20% and SK Hynix gained 1.30%. Hong Kong stocks were little changed at the noon recess, with the Hang Seng Index up 0.02% at 25,317.49 while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.56%. Tech names were mostly weaker — Xiaomi dropped more than 3%, and Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com and NetEase each slipped over 1% — while gold miners rallied, with Tongguan Gold Holding up more than 8% as spot gold climbed back above $4,400. Mainland property developers also gained, Yuexiu Property rising over 5%. Taiwan's TAIEX added 0.28% or 129.95 points to 46,294.67 as of 04:33 UTC, with MediaTek up 2.69% and TSMC up 0.42%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up about 0.4% at the midday break and the CSI 300 gained 0.51% as of 04:33 UTC, aided by an August services PMI that rose to 51.4.