05:39 AM EST, 01/28/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets churned on Tuesday, as traders weighed the possible ramifications of China-based DeepSeek's new AI app said to rival Western apps but at a much lower cost.

Hong Kong finished modestly higher, while Tokyo fell back.

Shanghai, Taiwan, Seoul, and Singapore were closed on holiday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 1.4% as traders eschewed tech shares, in the wake of DeepSeek AI revelations. Bank stocks gained on the outlook for higher interest rates to juice lender profits.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 548.93 to 39,016.87, although losing and gaining issues were evenly matched at 112 each.

Leading the upside was Sumitomo Realty & Development, up 5.1%, while semiconductor-test equipment maker Advantest lost 11.1%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened marginally higher and held ground, finishing up 0.1% in a holiday-shortened half-day of trading.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 27.34 to 20,225.11, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 51 to 30. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.8% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.5%.

Leading the upside was Alibaba Health Information Technology, up 4.3%. while Sina Biopharmaceutical declined 3.8%.

On the other regional exchanges, the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.8%.