SEOUL, November 25 (AJP) - Asian equities ended mostly higher on Tuesday, led by solid gains in Taiwan and mainland China, while early momentum in several tech-heavy indices faded by the close.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI rose 0.3 percent to 3,857.78, paring back an early jump of more than 1 percent as enthusiasm around Google’s new generative AI engine, Gemini 3.0, cooled. Local chip and AI-related stocks saw limited spillover from the launch amid reports that Google is relying on its in-house silicon rather than Nvidia chips for inference.
Foreign investors bought a net 116 billion won ($78.7 million), helping support the index, while retail investors and institutions booked profits. The won strengthened modestly to 1,472.7 won per dollar, though authorities’ efforts to curb volatility have had limited impact amid persistent structural pressures, including the U.S.–Korea rate gap and elevated household debt.
Market bellwethers were mixed. Samsung Electronics climbed 2.69 percent to 99,300 won, nearing the psychologically important 100,000-won level, while SK hynix edged down 0.19 percent as foreign funds sold heavily. AI hardware names advanced, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics jumping 6.86 percent on strong demand for multilayer ceramic capacitors used in AI servers and EVs.
Construction and infrastructure stocks also gained on optimism surrounding negotiations toward an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Samsung C&T rose 4.82 percent and Hyundai Engineering & Construction added 1.84 percent. The KOSDAQ slipped 0.05 percent to 856.03 after giving up morning gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished little changed, up 0.07 percent at 48,659.50. Semiconductor-related names were mixed: Advantest rose 4.18 percent and Tokyo Electron gained 3.05 percent, while Ibiden was flat. SoftBank Group tumbled 9.95 percent following the debut of Google’s Gemini 3.0, which investors viewed as intensifying competition in the AI ecosystem.
Taiwan’s TAIEX outperformed regionally, jumping 1.54 percent to 26,912.17. Chip giant TSMC rose 2.91 percent and MediaTek climbed 3.04 percent, buoyed by sustained AI demand from the U.S. Hon Hai Precision slipped 0.45 percent amid concerns over weaker-than-expected performance at its EV joint venture with Yulon and speculation about the partnership’s future.
China’s markets also advanced. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.87 percent to 3,870.02, supported by expectations that the Communist Party will unveil major ICT investment plans — such as 6G and cloud infrastructure — at its December economic policy meeting. Smart grid firm Qingdao Topscomm and cloud networking company Raisecom Tech both rose by the 10 percent daily limit.
The SZSE Composite jumped 1.53 percent to 12,777.31, driven by biotech shares after Beijing created a new insurance category, the Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug List (CHIIDL), easing pathways for new drugs. Hualan Biological surged 11.21 percent, while Sinoma Science climbed 10.01 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.66 percent at 25,885 as of 4:45 p.m., with Xiaomi rallying 3.9 percent to HK$40.16.
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