05:40 AM EST, 02/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were choppy on Tuesday, with some exchanges gaining on Wall Street cues and tech sector optimism,

Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the green, although Shanghai fell back. Other regional exchanges were also uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on Wall Street cues and held ground, finishing up 0.3% as traders moved into bank- and defense-sector shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 96.15 to 39,270.40, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 133 to 90.

Leading the upside was industrial-engineering concern Kanadevia, up 7.6%, while online marketplace Rakuten declined 5.5%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and rose to the close, finishing up 1.6% on a rally in tech issues after Beijing indicated it planned more support for commerce and entrepreneurs.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 360.58 to 22,976.81, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 48 to 32. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 2.5% on the day, although the Mainland Properties Index fell 1%.

Leading the upside was online social-media platform Kuaishou Technology, gaining 9.6%, while knitwear-maker Shenzhou International declined 2.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.9% to 3,324.49.

In economic news, China President President Xi Jinping met with tech-sector leaders on Monday, including the Alibaba founder Jack Ma, to offer them assurance that Beijing backs private enterprise and innovation.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.6%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was steady.

In other news, the Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its key policy rate to 4.10% from 4.35%, citing moderating inflation.