HONG KONG – Asian markets mostly advanced Monday, although technology shares continued to swing sharply and oil prices slid by more than 3%.
U.S. stock futures moved modestly higher after Wall Street suffered its steepest decline since June on Friday, as investors reduced their holdings in technology and artificial intelligence companies.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surrendered its early advance and fell 0.1% to 63,218.02, pressured by declines among several major technology firms.
SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, lost 1.8%. Kioxia Holdings, Japan’s memory-chip maker, plunged about 14% after its earnings outlook fell short of expectations for some analysts and investors.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 2.3% to 5,859.83. Samsung Electronics gained 1.7%, while SK Hynix, another major memory-chip producer, surged 4.2%.
Technology shares have remained unsettled as concerns grow that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence investment could represent a market bubble.
Apple is scheduled to release its latest earnings later Monday. Results from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon last week jolted markets, intensifying debate over whether their enormous AI investments will generate profits as quickly as investors expect.
During the past month, the Nikkei 225 has lost more than 6%, while South Korea’s Kospi has dropped over 16%.
Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 0.2%. TSMC, formally known as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., fell 1.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.6% to 23,437.41, while the Shanghai Composite advanced 1.2% to 3,640.93. The gains came despite China’s report over the weekend that factory activity returned to contraction in October as economic growth weakened.
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China’s central bank and securities regulator were scheduled to meet with financial institutions Monday to consider measures for bolstering the country’s capital markets, according to Chinese media reports.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6% to 8,851.40.
India’s Sensex gained 1.1%.
In the United States on Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.8%, the technology-focused Nasdaq composite dropped 2.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.1%.
Investors are also focused on Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections. Voters from across the political spectrum have expressed growing concern about artificial intelligence and data centers, as well as inflation and other major issues.
Oil prices fell sharply early Monday. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 3.3% at $109.66 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude also declined 3.3% to $100.64 per barrel.
Iran’s top diplomat said in an interview posted over the weekend on his Telegram channel that Iranian negotiators were in Qatar discussing a proposal that could allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen within two days if Washington satisfies several conditions. He added, however, that Iran was not engaged in direct negotiations with the United States.
He said the success of diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing a return to full-scale war would depend on the United States’ responses to the “Iranian questions.”
In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.91 Japanese yen from 157.49 yen. The euro was quoted at $1.1172, up from $1.1160.
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