Most Asian markets advanced on Tuesday as China’s mainland bourses returned from the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday with gains, while export-focused sectors in Japan and South Korea also rose on hopes of reduced U.S. trade levies. The region’s upward momentum helped offset a weak close on Wall Street the previous day, when tariff uncertainty and worries over AI-driven disruption weighed on U.S. markets.
Mainland China posts solid reopening
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes reopened higher, gaining 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively, as trade resumed after the holiday break. The advance was led primarily by exporters, with investors responding to the prospect of lower U.S. trade tariffs affecting regional trade flows.
Those expectations stem from a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that found the bulk of the prior administration’s tariffs unlawful, leading to levies scheduled to end from Tuesday. While the U.S. president did announce a new set of duties under a different legal basis, those new measures were not specifically aimed at China and were smaller than the earlier tariffs.
Beyond the trade narrative, markets were cheered by signs of robust consumer spending over the Lunar New Year period, which participants interpreted as a potential tailwind for broader Chinese economic activity.
Hong Kong lags amid renewed AI fears
By contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index recorded the day’s steepest decline in Asia, slipping nearly 2%. The losses were concentrated in technology and pharmaceutical names as investors reacted to signs that recent AI developments could undermine portions of the software ecosystem.
Interest in generative AI tools intensified after an AI startup released multiple utilities it said could reduce reliance on traditional software. That development, along with a research note that painted a potentially troubling trajectory for AI, increased selling pressure on several major tech names.
Hong Kong’s three largest technology heavyweight stocks - Alibaba Group (HK:9988), Baidu Inc (HK:9888), and Tencent (HK:0700) - each fell between 2.8% and 4.0% on the day. Smaller AI-oriented names outperformed, however; MiniMax Group Inc (HK:0100) rose about 7%, while ZhipuAI, trading as Knowledge Atlas Tech (HK:2513), jumped roughly 16.4%.
Exporters and chipmakers push other markets higher
Elsewhere in the region, South Korea’s KOSPI surged 1.6% to a record high, underpinned by gains in exporters and chipmakers. Memory chip leaders Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) posted strong gains and hit new peaks amid expectations that rising AI-related demand will materially lift their revenue profiles. Top executives at SK Hynix indicated plans to further expand memory chip production in response to the industry’s increased demand.
Market participants are watching NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) closely, with the company’s earnings report due on Wednesday. Investors see NVIDIA’s results as a potential bellwether for the demand outlook facing major memory suppliers such as Samsung and SK Hynix, given their roles as key memory providers to large AI customers.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9%, helped by exporter strength, while the broader TOPIX added 0.1%. Australia’s ASX 200 lagged, easing 0.1%, and Singapore’s Straits Times index fell about 0.7%.
Futures for India’s Nifty 50 moved up approximately 0.1%, offering modest relief to local exporters following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. On the political front, the U.S. president on Monday warned that tariffs could be increased further if countries deviated from recently signed trade agreements with Washington.
U.S. leads and near-term focus
S&P 500 futures were about 0.3% higher during Asian trading hours, as attention shifted to upcoming corporate reports and the evolving trade picture. NVIDIA’s earnings release is expected to provide directional cues across chip supply chains and to investor sentiment toward AI-driven demand expectations.
Bottom line
Tuesday’s session underscored a split in Asia’s market performance: mainland China and export-linked markets rallied on tariff-related optimism and signs of consumer strength, while Hong Kong’s technology sector came under renewed pressure as investors weighed the implications of rapid AI developments on established software and internet business models.