Asian equities showed signs of stabilising on Thursday, but investors remained cautious after a turbulent week marked by a sharp AI-driven market sell-off, uncertainty over the US interest rate outlook and renewed geopolitical tensions that briefly sent oil prices soaring.
Taiwan’s benchmark climbed 666.47 points to 40,705.65, up 1.66%, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 201.22 points to 5,864.46, rising 3.55%. Japan’s Nikkei rose 881.37 points to 62,315.56, up 1.43%. Even so, the Nikkei was still headed for a weekly decline of 3%, while the Kospi remained on track for a 12% fall.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slipped 34.84 points to 25,773.08, down 0.13% around 8 am IST. In China, Shanghai lost 12.14 points to 3,816.329, down 0.32%, while Shenzhen declined 299.165 points to 13,359.279, falling 2.19%.