06:49 AM EDT, 03/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were uneven Thursday, as traders weighed geopolitical concerns and tech-sector values.

Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground, while Tokyo edged into the green. Most other regional exchanges gained.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on tech-sector softness but rose to the close, finishing up 0.3% as traders bargain-hunted after three previous trading sessions in the red.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 111.41 to 38,807.38, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 174 to 51.

Leading the upside was Mitsubishi Materials, up 9.7%, while industrial machinery maker Ebara declined 4.8%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher but lost steam, finishing down 0.7% as tech issues followed overnight declines of peers on Wall Street. Traders also took to sidelines ahead of a raft of major-company earnings releases due next week.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 120.45 to 16,961.66, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 48 to 31. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.7%.

Leading the upside was Zijin Mining, gaining 3.5%, while Wuxi Biologics brought up the rear, falling 13.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,038.23.

In other news, House of Representative legislators in Washington on Wednesday approved a bill to compel China-based ByteDance to divest video-sharing app TikTok or face ban in the US. The move again raised geopolitical concerns for investors, and follows a 2020 rule in New Delhi to ban TikTok.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.9%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.8%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.8%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.5%.