Asian stock markets moved in different directions after the US midterm elections, with technology shares under pressure amid concerns that Democratic gains could slow artificial intelligence data center projects. Japan’s technology-heavy Nikkei fell 0.8% to 61,687, while the broader Topix rose 1.5% to 3,955. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 4% to 5,460.
Chip equipment makers weighed on the Nikkei: Advantest fell 10.3% and Tokyo Electron declined 8.6%. Wataru Akiyama, an equity strategist at Nomura Securities, said investors were shifting capital from AI and semiconductors into other sectors. He added that market participants increasingly saw a risk that election results would delay data center projects and make it harder to sustain current earnings growth.
The shift was visible across Japan’s market, where 25 of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry groups rose. Real estate gained 6.5%, leading the advances, while retail climbed 5.4%. Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, rose 7.9%. Toyota shares gained 5.3% ahead of its results, expected later in the day, while Sony and Nintendo rose 6.6% and 4.6%, respectively, ahead of their results after the market close.
Elsewhere, Shanghai’s market was little changed at 3,690, while the CSI 300 index rose 0.4% to 4,116.
Sources: Handelsblatt.