Asian Stocks Mixed Amid Tech Turmoil

TOKYO: Asian stock markets exhibited mixed performance in subdued trading on Tuesday due to the Lunar New Year holiday, following a sell-off in US tech stocks triggered by concerns raised by a Chinese AI competitor.

Market Movements:

* Japan's Nikkei 225 declined by 0.9% to 39,214.19.
* Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up slightly by less than 0.1% to 8,411.70.
* Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2% to 20,236.13.
* Markets in South Korea, Shanghai, and other regions were closed for holidays.

Tech Sector Impact:

* Japanese tech giants, including SoftBank Group (-10%) and Hitachi (-4%), suffered losses.
* Computer chip manufacturer Tokyo Electron plunged by 7.6%.
* Fuji Media Holdings surged nearly 9% following a lengthy press conference by executives.

US Market Tumble:

* On Monday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.5% to 6,012.28, primarily due to a 16.9% decline in Nvidia.
* Other Big Tech stocks also faced significant losses, contributing to a 3.1% decline in the Nasdaq composite.
* AI-related stocks were particularly impacted.

China's AI Disruption:

* Chinese AI company DeepSeek unveiled a large language model that rivals US giants at potentially lower costs.
* DeepSeek's free app topped Apple's App Store charts, raising concerns about US chip restrictions on Chinese companies.

Outlook and Earnings Watch:

* Analysts remain cautious about the long-term impact of DeepSeek's announcement on the AI industry.
* Markets anticipate earnings reports from Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Tesla later this week.

Energy and Currency:

* US benchmark crude lost 5 cents to $73.12 a barrel.
* Brent crude fell by 1 cent to $76.17 a barrel.
* The US dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, rising from 154.51 to 155.54.
* The euro declined from $1.0493 to $1.0434.