ASIA MARKET CLOSE | TAIEX Gains 3.62% for Third Straight Session, KOSPI Adds 2.6%, Hang Seng Falls 0.98%

According to RTHK, Korea Herald and HKET, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed at 61,248.59, up 789.01 points or 1.31%, for a third straight gain after rising more than 930 points at one point. The broader TOPIX ended at 3,929.39, up 0.92%. Advantest rose 5.89% and Tokyo Electron added 2.95%, while SoftBank Group slipped 0.44% and Sony fell 0.87%. Seoul's KOSPI opened 0.56% lower before rising to close at 5,375.36, up 136.23 points or 2.6%, for a second straight gain, after rising as high as 5,377.99. Foreigners bought a net 655.26 billion won of stocks, while institutions and individuals sold a net 481.67 billion won and 715.69 billion won, respectively. Hyundai Motor Securities said in a research note that Trump's remarks pointing to a lower chance of military action against Iran pushed oil prices down, while bargain buying in AI-related stocks also supported the market. Samsung Electronics rose 3.57% to 206,000 won, SK hynix climbed 5.36% to 1,277,000 won and Korea Aerospace Industries jumped 7.71%, while Hanjin KAL, parent of Korean Air, plunged 14.64%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 202 points lower and closed at 24,315.92, down 241.12 points or 0.98%, on turnover of HK$180.75 billion. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.41% to 4,027.06. Tencent declined 1.96% to HK$409.60, Meituan lost 3.51% and NetEase fell 3.34%. SMIC rose 3.73% to HK$49.00 against the trend ahead of its results due the next trading day, Zhipu gained 3.57% and MiniMax added 4.04%. Optical communication stocks advanced, with Zhongji Innolight up 14.48%. Taiwan's TAIEX closed at 44,257.15, up 1,545.23 points or 3.62%, for a third straight gain, with turnover of NT$849.2 billion. TSMC rose NT$110, or 4.81%, to NT$2,395, and MediaTek gained 4.18%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed at 3,680.64, up 0.46%, for a third straight session of gains; the Shenzhen Component rose 1.32% to 11,389.74 and the ChiNext Index gained 3.11% to 2,572.07.