05:39 AM EST, 02/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday, with China-exposed exchanges under pressure from a Beijing review of online sales practices, while Seoul's KOSPI Index surged 3.1% to a record zenith, led by semiconductor shares, after US chipmaker Micron (MU) affirmed its HBM4 chips are being supplied to Nvidia (NVDA) without issue.

Shanghai and Tokyo finished flat, while Hong Kong lost ground. Other regional exchanges largely finished in the green. Exchanges in Taiwan were closed on holiday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly after a one-day holiday and traded sideways, finishing essentially flat as a stronger yen capped export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 10.70 to 57,639.84, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 141 to 82.

Leading the upside was heavy-equipment maker Kubota, up 18.2%, while electronics-shop Sharp lost 12.5%, with both moves following earnings releases.

In economic news, retarded by softer oil and steel prices, Japan's producer price index (PPI) rose 2.3% on year in January, down from a 2.4% on-year gain in December, reported the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, closing off 0.9% after Beijing regulators summoned online platforms for explanations concerning irregularities in the online sale of train tickets ahead of Lunar New Year.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 233.84 to 27,032.54 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 57 to 27. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.5%.

Leading the upside was Zijin Mining, gaining 3.5%, while Budweiser Brewing APAC declined 5.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was flat, closing at 4,134.02

On the other regional exchanges, the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.7%, and the Thai Set inclined 2.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.7%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8% on the day.

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