06:52 AM EDT, 08/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets gained ground on Wednesday as oil prices steadied, and as traders regained confidence in tech shares.

Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, although Hong Kong bucked trends and lost ground. Other regional exchanges were mixed on the high side.

Brent crude oil futures traded down 0.2% to $88.72 a barrel, during Asian market hours.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly after a one-day hiatus and rose to the close, finishing up 0.8% as traders gravitated into AI- and semiconductor-related shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 553.84 to 67,524.06, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 134 to 88.

Leading the upside was semiconductor-components maker Taiyo Yuden, up 7.5%, while online retail and financial platform Rakuten declined 13.8%, after reporting earnings.

In economic news, Japan's machine tool orders climbed by 50.4% on year in July 2026, following a 52.8% on-year surge in June, reported the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, closing down 0.8% despite a rally in property shares that followed Beijing signals towards the struggling real estate sector.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 212.65 to 25,440.17, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 65 to 26. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1% on the day, but the Mainland Properties Index rose 4.3%.

Leading the upside was property-developer Longfor, gaining 8.8%, while video-game developer NetEase declined 5.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 3,946.68.

In economic news, China's total vehicle sales fell 0.3% on year to 2.584 million units in July, following a 3.2% on-year decline in June, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In housing news, Beijing introduced a package of measures, including easing home purchase restrictions for certain families, and increasing housing-fund loan limits, in a bid to stabilize property markets, reported the state news agency Xinhua.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 3.7%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.5%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.6%, and trading floors were dark in Bangkok. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.3%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 1% on the day.