HONG KONG (AP) — Asian markets were mixed on Monday as selling of artificial intelligence-related shares pulled benchmarks in Japan and South Korea lower, though gains for other stocks helped offset those losses.U.S. futures advanced and oil prices gained, though they remained close to the levels they were at before the Iran war began in late February. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend as Iran launched fresh drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait in response to new U.S. airstrikes, adding to uncertainties clouding the global economic outlook. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 1% to 68,704.70, after falling 4.2% on Friday. SoftBank Group, the multinational investment holding company which invests in OpenAI, sank 5.9% following a 12.5% drop on Friday.South Korea’s Kospi lost 2% to 8,246.50. It was down 5.8% on Friday. Samsung Electronics sank 6%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell 4.5%.
Taiwan’s Taiex, also a beneficiary of the global AI boom thanks to its many tech companies including chipmaker TSMC, gained 1.1% as it recovered some losses from its 3.6% decline on Friday.
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Japan’s and South Korea’s markets have soared as many of their Big Tech firms were lifted by demand for computer chips and other high-valued components used in artificial intelligence. Recent worries over AI valuations have trimmed some of those gains.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.1% to 23,153.89, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher to 4,034.08. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,798.00.
