ASIA MARKET OPEN | Tokyo Opens Lower Then Rebounds as Chip Selloff Hits Seoul and Taiwan; Hong Kong Slips

According to Kabutan, Yonhap and HKET, Asian equities opened mixed on Tuesday as a steep overnight drop in chip stocks, renewed U.S. rate-hike worries ahead of this week's FOMC and higher oil prices weighed on sentiment, though bargain-hunting lifted several markets after weak starts. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 began the day 302.62 points lower at 63,190.37, a third straight losing open, pressured by semiconductor-related names such as Furukawa Electric, Tokyo Electron and Fujikura after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 5.86% overnight. The index quickly reversed higher on dip-buying, with its gain topping 500 points by late morning, as SoftBank Group, Lasertec and Recruit advanced. Seoul's KOSPI opened 25.12 points lower at 6,659.25, extending the prior session's more than 3% slide, as chip heavyweights stayed under pressure. Hong Kong stocks opened firmer, with the Hang Seng Index up 16 points at 24,934 and the Hang Seng Tech Index adding 0.5% to 4,338; Alibaba and Lenovo each rose about 1%, while GAC Group jumped 8% on resumption after unveiling a plan to issue A-shares to acquire a stake in a vehicle joint venture from FAW. The index then slipped below flat to around 24,807 shortly after the open. Taiwan's TAIEX opened 15.25 points lower at 45,847.27, hit by the overnight chip rout, before turning higher toward 45,900 as TSMC rose NT$25 to NT$2,405 and Delta Electronics gained. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite opened down 0.14%, the Shenzhen Component fell 0.17% and the ChiNext Index eased 0.14%, with more than 2,900 stocks lower; media, autos, oil-and-gas and cybersecurity names were active while optical-communication shares pulled back.