Asian Markets Mostly Rise Amid Tech Volatility, Oil Prices Sink 3.3 Per Cent

Asian stock markets mostly advanced on Monday, tracking a mixed regional trend as investors remained cautious over technology and artificial intelligence-related stocks, while crude oil prices plunged more than 3 per cent amid hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough involving Iran.

South Korea's Kospi surged 2.3 per cent to 5,859.83, supported by gains in major technology stocks. Samsung Electronics rose 1.7 per cent, while SK Hynix advanced 4.2 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent to 23,437.41, and the Shanghai Composite climbed 1.2 per cent to 3,640.93. India's Sensex rose 1.1 per cent.

However, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1 per cent to 63,218.02 after surrendering early gains. SoftBank Group declined 1.8 per cent, while memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings plunged around 14 per cent following disappointing earnings forecasts. Taiwan's Taiex also edged down 0.2 per cent, with leading chipmaker TSMC losing 1.5 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 per cent.

Investor sentiment remained fragile amid concerns that massive investments in artificial intelligence and data centres may not generate expected returns. Markets were also awaiting Apple's latest earnings report after results from Alphabet and Amazon last week raised questions over the profitability of their AI spending.

On Friday, Wall Street witnessed a sharp sell-off, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 2.9 per cent, the S&P 500 declining 1.8 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 1.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, Brent crude fell 3.3 per cent to USD 109.66 per barrel, while US benchmark crude dropped by the same margin to USD 100.64.

The decline came amid reports of diplomatic efforts in Qatar involving Iran, with Tehran indicating that a proposal could facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within two days, subject to US conditions.