06:51 AM EDT, 07/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets churned on Wednesday, as traders weighed fresh Persian Gulf hostilities and the renewed closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and ongoing gyrations in tech-sector valuations.

Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, although Hong Kong rallied and bucked regional trends. Other Asian exchanges were uneven, while Seoul's KOSPI Index lost 5.4% on sagging semiconductor issues.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower, wobbled, but could not recover, finishing off 2.1% as traders weighed higher global crude prices. Rising yields on Japanese government bonds, due to concerns regarding heavy government spending plans, also damped sentiments.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1,437.91 to 66,819.05, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 171 to 52.

Leading the upside was utility Tokyo Electric Power, up 3.8%, while advanced materials-maker Taiyo Yuden declined 8.5%.

In economic news, Japan's Economy Watcher's Survey index, a polling of frontline service workers such as cab drivers and restaurant staff, struck a seasonally adjusted 44.0 in June, up from 43.6 in May, but still logging below the 50-mark that separates optimism from pessimism.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and rose to the close, concluding up 3% after concerns abated that a flood of tech-oriented IPOs might saturate the market. In particular, shares in AI-venture Knowledge Atlas Technology gained 13.3%, even after a "lock-up" provision of original shareholders expired, a bellwether result that appeared to galvanize optimism among tech investors.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 702.57 to 24,199.46, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 73 to 19. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2.1%.

Leading the upside was e-commerce colossus Alibaba (BABA), gaining 9.9%, while pork purveyors WH Group declined 5.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 3,970.88.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.6%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%, and the Thai Set declined 1.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 2.2%.

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