ASIA MARKET CLOSE | Hong Kong Property Slides on Rate-Hike Fears, Seoul and Shanghai Close Higher; Nikkei Recovers From Sharp Fall

According to RTHK, the Hong Kong Economic Times and the Korea Herald, Asian equities finished mixed on Monday, wrapping up August, as a hawkish speech from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh kept investors wary of another U.S. rate hike. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 pared a steep intraday drop to close nearly flat at 66,311.93, down 93.63 points or 0.14%, after falling more than 1,570 points during the session; the index still gained about 3% for August. Chip-equipment maker Advantest fell 4.48% to 33,690 yen, while Sony rose 2.24% to 4,016 yen and Tokyo Electron edged up 0.37%. Seoul's Kospi reversed an early 2.58% slide to end up 31.14 points, or 0.46%, at 6,820.02, led by technology names, and rose more than 3% over the month. Samsung Electronics gained 1.17% to 260,000 won and SK hynix advanced 1.27% to 1.67 million won, while Hyundai Motor added 1% and LG Energy Solution climbed 2.16%. Defense maker Hanwha Aerospace dropped 4.75%. The Korean won firmed to 1,368.6 per dollar. Hong Kong stocks ended little changed on the month's final trading day, with the Hang Seng Index down 17.80 points at 25,566.99 on turnover of HK$314.82 billion; the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.3% to 4,619. Bank of China jumped more than 5% to a record, and Meituan gained about 2% after results, while AI names MINIMAX surged 16% and Zhipu climbed more than 9%. Property shares slumped on rate-hike worries, with Henderson Land off more than 7% and both China Overseas Land and China Resources Land down over 9%. Taiwan's TAIEX fell 202.98 points, or 0.44%, to 46,128.47, snapping a four-session winning run but still up about 7% for August. TSMC eased 0.62% to NT$2,405, MediaTek lost 1.51% and Hon Hai slipped 1.19%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 34.12 points, or 0.86%, to 3,986.30, with AI, film and coal-mining shares advancing; the Shenzhen Component added 0.44% to 14,015.00 and the ChiNext gained 0.42% to 3,438.68. For August, the Shanghai gauge climbed 4.02%, the Shenzhen Component 3.21% and the ChiNext 2.83%. Official data showed China's manufacturing PMI improved in August.