06:46 AM EDT, 08/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets outside China rallied on Thursday, on overnight Wall Street cues and strength in tech issues.

Brent crude oil futures traded down 1.9% to $87.27 a barrel during Asian trading hours, easing some concerns on energy bills.

Tokyo finished in the green, but Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground. Other regional exchanges largely finished higher.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 concluded up 1.2% as AI- and semiconductor-shares retained favor, and following the Wednesday US inflation report, which contained no negative surprises.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 784.53 to 68,308.59, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 131 to 90.

Leading the upside was packaging house Toppan, up 10.8% after reporting earnings, while personal-products maker Kao declined 3.6%.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index rose 7.2% on year in July, and rose by 0.1% from June, reported the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower, waffled, and closed down 0.2%, as property shares gave back some of Wednesday's gains. Traders remain concerned that China's huge economy is hamstrung by a struggling real estate sector and soft consumer spending.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 43.66 to 25,396.51, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 57 to 33. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 2.4%.

Leading the upside was computer-maker Lenovo, gaining 20.2% after reporting earnings, while aluminum-producer China Hongqiao declined 7.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 3,926.96.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 3.6%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index was steady, and the Thai Set inclined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.2%

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.9% on the day.