China's strong opening after the Spring Festival drives Asian stock markets higher, with Hong Kong tech stocks dragging down the main index.

Investing.com - On Tuesday, most Asian stock markets rose, with China markets reopening strongly after the Lunar New Year holiday, while Hong Kong stocks fell sharply due to ongoing concerns that artificial intelligence is disrupting the tech sector.

The prospect of the U.S. potentially reducing trade tariffs on regional economies also boosted stocks, with export-oriented sectors in Japan and South Korea both rising.

This, in turn, helped Asian stocks shake off the weakness led by Wall Street, which on Monday saw a sharp decline due to tariff uncertainties and AI disruptions. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% during Asian trading hours, with market focus shifting to Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), which is set to release earnings on Wednesday.

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China Stocks Open Higher After Lunar New Year

China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively, as trading resumed after a nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.

The gains were mainly driven by strong performances in export-oriented sectors, as investors welcomed the prospect of the U.S. potentially lowering trade tariffs on China.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs were illegal, and these tariffs will be lifted starting Tuesday.

While Trump did impose additional tariffs under different legal frameworks, these were not specifically targeted at China. The new tariffs are also relatively lower than previous ones imposed by Trump.

Beyond trade factors, signs of strong consumer spending during the holiday period also boosted market sentiment toward China, with markets betting these expenditures will translate into a more robust economy.

Hong Kong Stocks Fall, AI Concerns Hit Tech Sector

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was the worst performer in Asia, falling nearly 2% amid declines in local tech and pharmaceutical stocks.

The tech sector was especially hard hit, as concerns grew that AI development could erode the sector’s dominance, especially after AI startup Anthropic released a series of tools claiming to reduce reliance on traditional software.

A report from Citrini Research also intensified selling pressure on tech stocks, speculating that if AI continues to develop as predicted, a dystopian future could emerge.

Hong Kong’s three major tech stocks—Alibaba Group (HK: 9988), Baidu (HK: 9888), and Tencent (HK: 0700)—fell between 2.8% and 4.0%.

However, smaller AI companies like MiniMax Group (HK: 0100) and Knowledge Atlas Tech (traded as Knowledge Atlas Tech HK: 2513) saw strong gains, rising 7% and 16.4%, respectively.

On Tuesday, Asian stock markets generally rose, with export sectors benefiting from the prospect of the U.S. lowering trade tariffs.

South Korea’s KOSPI surged 1.6% to a new high, driven by gains in exporters and local chipmakers. Memory chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics (KS: 005930) and SK Hynix (KS: 000660) posted strong gains, both reaching new highs, as markets bet that AI-driven demand will significantly boost revenues.

SK Hynix executives pledged on Monday to further increase memory chip production amid growing AI industry demand.

Nvidia’s earnings are now expected to provide more clues for Samsung and SK Hynix, as these two are major suppliers of memory chips for the world’s most valuable companies.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9%, supported by gains in local exporters, while the Topix index increased 0.1%.

Australia’s ASX 200 underperformed, falling 0.1%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.7%.

India’s Nifty 50 futures rose 0.1%, with local exporters seeing limited relief from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.

On Monday, Trump threatened that if countries deviate from the recent trade agreement signed with Washington, he will further increase tariffs.

This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence. For more information, see our Terms of Use.