05:42 AM EST, 01/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely fell back Thursday, as the tech sector followed Wall Street cues and overnight declines of US peers.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, while other regional exchanges were uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 0.4% as tech- and AI-shares imitated similar action on New York exchanges. The Mumbai stock market was closed for holiday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 230.73 to 54,110.50, though gaining issues outnumbered losers 143 to 77, as the retreat was largely limited to the tech sector.

Leading the upside was retail conglomerate Ryohin Keikaku, up nearly 12% after reporting earnings, while software-testing outfit SHIFT declined 8.5%.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index rose 2.4% on-year last month, cooling from a 2.7% increase in November, and marking the slowest annual rise since May 2024, reported the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened modestly higher, but sagged thereafter, closing down 0.2% as traders joined the global caution on semiconductors and AI outlooks.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 76.19 to 26,923.62, though gaining issues outnumbered losers 55 to 33. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.1%.

Leading the upside was BYD Electronics, gaining 3.3%, while Trip.com declined 19% on news Beijing has launched an antitrust review of the online travel agency.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 4,112.60.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.6% to a fresh all-time apex; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.5%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.4%, and the Thai Set gained 1.4%.

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