Mainland shares closed up on Tuesday, led by artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks, after stronger-than-expected factory activity pointed to resilient demand for high-tech exports.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 145 points, or 0.6 percent, at 22,881 on turnover of HK$308.05 billion.

The tech index rose 79 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,472 while the China enterprises index was 47 points, or 0.6 percent, lower at 7,558.

Up north, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 20 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 4,094 on turnover of 1.53 trillion yuan.

The Shenzhen Component Index surged 392 points, or 2.48 percent, to 16,205 on turnover of 1.74 trillion yuan while the ChiNext Index soared 126 points, or 2.99 percent, to close at 4,342 on turnover of 859.826 billion yuan.

The 5G Communication Index was up 4.4 percent while onshore semiconductor shares rose 3.3 percent.

In Tokyo, a rebound in technology stocks helped the Nikkei end up 594 points, or 0.86 percent, at 70,062 and 37 percent for the quarter, its sharpest three-month advance since 1965. The broader Topix rose 12 points, or 0.32 percent, to 3,994.

In Seoul, the Kospi ended a volatile session up 81 points, or 0.97 percent, at 8,476 for the day and 68 percent for the quarter, its best showing in nearly 30 years on the back of chipmakers' blistering rally.

The Hang Seng Index lost 9.1 percent for the month, its steepest monthly loss since January 2024.

And for the first six months of the year, the index shed 10.7 percent.

"Hong Kong shares' [performances] in the first six months were a very big disappointment as investors had expected Hong Kong to rebound or even benefit from fund outflow from the US, but that didn't happen," said Alex Wong, director of Alex KY Wong Asset Management.

"What did happen was investors switching out from the big platform names and traditional shares, and buying hardware-related shares only.

"The traditional blue chips are actually being dumped. This is an extremely polarised market in Hong Kong."

But Wong pointed to strength in the A-share market, especially those involved in hardware and manufacturing-related sectors onshore, as investors believe these industries will benefit from an "AI infrastructure building era". (Additional reporting by Reuters & Xinhua)


Edited by Priscilla Ng