ASIA MIDDAY MOVES | MediaTek Jumps 10% on Nvidia's $3.5 Billion Bond Bet as Hong Kong Tech Sags

According to Reuters, RTHK and Sina Finance, Asian equities were mixed at midday Tuesday, with Taiwan surging on a chip-sector boost while Hong Kong's technology names came under pressure. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 pared an earlier slide of more than 730 points, trading at 66,257.27, down 0.08% or 54.66 points as of 12:33 Beijing time (UTC+8); it had ended the morning session at 66,050, off 0.39%. Japan reported second-quarter corporate capital spending rose 1.6% year on year, while manufacturing new business expanded at its fastest pace since 2018. Seoul's KOSPI edged up 0.07% to 6,824.50 as of 12:32 (UTC+8). South Korea's August exports climbed 68.7% year on year, extending gains to a 15th straight month, and factory activity logged a ninth consecutive month of expansion. Hong Kong stocks closed the morning lower, with the Hang Seng Index down 1.00% at 25,310.88 and the Hang Seng Tech Index off 0.76%. Alibaba fell more than 3% and Tencent, JD.com and Baidu each shed over 2%, while Kuaishou bucked the trend with a gain above 4%. Fast-fashion group Shein slid about 4% on its Hong Kong trading debut, opening below its HK$48.56 offer price, and fellow newcomer Mech-Mind dropped more than 2%. Property developer Yuexiu fell over 7%. Taiwan's TAIEX rallied 1.70% to 46,913.75 as of 12:33 (UTC+8). MediaTek soared 9.94% after Nvidia said it had invested $3.5 billion in convertible bonds issued by the chip designer. TSMC rose 1.04% and Hon Hai added 1.80%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was little changed, up 0.03% at 3,987.56 as of 12:33 (UTC+8), while the ChiNext narrowed its loss to under 1%. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.5 in August, beating expectations.