Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday as investors’ focus shifted to the US PCE price data due later in the day that might provide further insights into the inflation outlook and the likely path of interest rates. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious as the United States carried out fresh strikes on Iran, further intensifying a five-month-old war that is spreading beyond its main fronts to embroil more countries across the region. Chinese shares fell, led by steep declines in technology, artificial intelligence, and semiconductor hardware sectors amid valuation concerns. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped as Samsung Electronics’ better-than-expected earnings failed to calm market jitters and the government announced additional measures to stabilize the local stock market and curb retail access to single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) after a severe market rout wiped out billions of investor dollars. Japanese markets rose as semiconductor shares rallied after Advantest issued a stronger-than-expected profit outlook.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,804.69 | -23.78 | -0.62 |
| Hang Seng | 25,858.88 | 50.96 | 0.20 |
| Jakarta Composite | 6,186.36 | 94.97 | 1.54 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,720.40 | 4.84 | 0.28 |
| Nikkei 225 | 61,867.43 | 433.24 | 0.71 |
| Straits Times | 5,673.58 | -39.61 | -0.69 |
| KOSPI Composite | 5,593.56 | -69.68 | -1.23 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 39,933.30 | -105.88 | -0.26 |
