ASIA MARKET CLOSE | Taiwan's TAIEX Surges 1.78% on MediaTek Limit-Up; Hong Kong Slips as Tech Weakens, Seoul Edges Up

According to The Korea Herald, HKET and UDN Money, Asian equities finished mixed on Tuesday, with Taiwan sharply higher and Hong Kong lower. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped 96.59 points, or 0.15%, to close at 66,215.34, with chip-sector names mixed. Tokyo Electron fell 2.59% to 54,980 yen and Advantest lost 0.92% to 33,380 yen, while Sony rose 0.75% to 4,046 yen. Seoul's KOSPI rose for a second straight session, adding 15.78 points, or 0.23%, to 6,835.80. The index opened lower, tracking Wall Street losses, but erased declines in the afternoon on tech gains after data showed South Korea's August exports remained solid on strong chip demand. Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said external uncertainty weighed on sentiment but large-cap buying supported the index, citing recent buyback programs from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Samsung rose 0.38% to 261,000 won and SK hynix gained 1.14% to 1.69 million won, while refiner SK Innovation jumped 7.81%. Hong Kong stocks opened September lower, with the Hang Seng Index down 237.26 points, or 0.93%, to 25,329.73 on turnover of HK$238.74 billion. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.49% to 4,550. Alibaba dropped 3.33% to HK$110.40, Meituan slid 2.60% to HK$76.85 and Tencent eased 2.25% to HK$442.80, while Kuaishou rose about 3% and NIO fell more than 6% ahead of results after its delivery data. Mainland banks bucked the trend, with Agricultural Bank of China up over 2%. Fast-fashion retailer Shein slipped 0.12% on its Hong Kong debut. Taiwan's TAIEX jumped 820.25 points, or 1.78%, to close at 46,948.72, a two-month high, on turnover of NT$1.081 trillion. MediaTek closed limit-up, gaining 9.94% to NT$4,315, while TSMC rose 1.46% to NT$2,440 and Hon Hai added 2.40% to NT$256. Foreign and institutional investors turned net buyers, purchasing NT$56.1 billion of shares. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite eased 0.16% to 3,979.89, the Shenzhen Component fell 1.02% to 13,872.38 and the ChiNext Index dropped 1.32% to 3,393.43. Combined turnover was 2.03 trillion yuan, with banks hitting record highs and media stocks active.