ASIA MARKET CLOSE | ChiNext Jumps 6.4%, Hang Seng Rises for Fourth Day; Nikkei Falls 1.42%

According to RTHK, HKET and The Korea Herald, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed at 62,188.63, down 893.23 points, or 1.42%, after touching an intraday low of 60,030. The broader TOPIX fell 0.89% to 3,895.38. Chip-related shares declined, with Tokyo Electron down 3.42%, Advantest down 3.35% and SoftBank Group down 3.20%. Seoul's KOSPI closed at 5,683.80, up 35.01 points, or 0.62%. The index opened 2.43% higher, turned lower and fell as low as 5,421.72 before returning to positive territory in the afternoon, as early U.S. midterm election results pointed to Democrats regaining control of both chambers of Congress. Foreigners sold a net 2.5 trillion won, while institutions and individuals bought a net 1.01 trillion won and 1.15 trillion won, respectively. Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said investors were concerned that tighter regulation of AI data centers under a Democratic Congress could reduce AI investment, while eco-friendly sectors gained on expectations of policy support. Samsung SDI rose 11.57% and LG Energy Solution gained 5.03%, while Samsung Electronics fell 0.68% to 218,000 won and SK hynix slipped 0.14% to 1,396,000 won. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 74 points lower, then rebounded to close at its session high of 23,919.50, up 393.53 points, or 1.67%, for a fourth straight gain. Main-board turnover was HK$236.9 billion. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.8% to 3,936. Chip and AI-related shares advanced, with Hua Hong Semiconductor up 15.75% and SMIC up 8.96%. Healthcare stocks gained, as WuXi Biologics and WuXi AppTec each rose more than 12%. Lenovo climbed 6.00%, Tencent added 1.11% and Alibaba rose 1.05%. Taiwan's TAIEX closed at 42,948.91, down 358.63 points, or 0.83%, for a fifth consecutive decline, after falling as much as 1,451.72 points to 41,855.82 intraday. TSMC fell 1.53% to NT$2,260, Delta Electronics dropped 3.94% and Hon Hai declined 2.24%, while MediaTek rose 1.09% to NT$3,715. Foreign and mainland Chinese investors sold a net NT$149.9 billion. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.16% to 3,686.17, the Shenzhen Component Index gained 4.22% to 11,335.69 and the ChiNext Index jumped 6.40% to 2,544.73. The STAR 50 Index rose 9.92%. Combined turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges returned above 2 trillion yuan.