Most Asian equities climbed on Tuesday as Chinese markets reopened following the Lunar New Year holiday, while Hong Kong stocks tumbled amid ongoing fears of artificial intelligence disrupting the technology sector.
Investor optimism was supported by the possibility of reduced U.S. trade tariffs on regional economies, helping export-driven sectors in Japan and South Korea make gains.
This lifted broader Asian markets despite a weak performance in Wall Street on Monday, where uncertainty over tariffs and AI-driven disruptions led to sharp losses. S&P 500 futures were up 0.3% in Asian trading as attention shifted toward NVIDIA Corporation’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) earnings, scheduled for Wednesday.
China Markets Bounce Back After Holiday
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indices rose 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively, marking a strong return after the nine-day Lunar New Year break.
Exports-oriented sectors led the gains, fueled by hopes that U.S. trade tariffs on China may ease. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that many of former President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs were unlawful, meaning those levies ended on Tuesday.
Although Trump announced new tariffs under a different legal framework, these measures were not specifically aimed at China and were generally lower than the previous tariffs.
In addition, robust consumer spending during the Lunar New Year contributed to positive sentiment, with markets betting that increased spending could translate into stronger economic activity.
Hong Kong Tech Dragged Down by AI Fears
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was the weakest in the region, falling nearly 2% as local tech and pharmaceutical shares declined.
Concerns over AI’s potential to disrupt traditional software markets weighed heavily on technology stocks. The release of new tools by AI startup Anthropic, claiming to reduce reliance on conventional software, heightened investor caution.
A report from Citrini Research speculating on a potentially disruptive AI-driven future also added selling pressure. Hong Kong’s top three tech stocks—Alibaba Group (HK:9988), Baidu Inc (HK:9888), and Tencent (HK:0700)—dropped between 2.8% and 4.0%.
Smaller AI-focused companies saw strong gains, with MiniMax Group Inc (HK:0100) rising 7% and ZhipuAI (Knowledge Atlas Tech, HK:2513) surging 16.4%.
Broader Regional Trends
Most Asian markets gained on Tuesday, with exporters benefiting from hopes of reduced U.S. tariffs.
South Korea’s KOSPI surged 1.6% to a record, led by exporters and semiconductor companies. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) hit new highs, buoyed by expectations that AI-driven demand will significantly boost revenue. SK Hynix executives pledged further memory chip production increases to meet growing AI industry demand.
NVIDIA’s upcoming earnings are expected to offer insights for Samsung and SK Hynix, given their roles as major memory suppliers to the company.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9%, driven by exporter gains, while the TOPIX inched up 0.1%.
Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.1%, and Singapore’s Straits Times index fell 0.7%.
Futures for India’s Nifty 50 were up 0.1%, with local exporters seeing only limited relief from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Meanwhile, Trump on Monday warned that tariffs could rise further if countries diverge from recent trade agreements with the U.S.
