06:41 AM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely churned higher Wednesday after a strong overnight earnings report from the US-based SpaceX (SPCX), driven by its AI business.

Tokyo, Seoul and Taiwan finished in the green, although Hong Kong and Shanghai fell back. Other regional exchanges were mixed on the high side.

Brent crude futures rose 2.1% to $111.04 a barrel during Asian market hours.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and held ground, finishing up 0.9% as traders went risk-on on AI- and semiconductor-related shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 545.82 to 64,621.24, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 151 to 71.

Leading the upside was semiconductor-materials maker Resonac, up 5.3%, while software-quality tester Shift declined 3.5%.

In economic news, Japan exports rose 16.7% on year in September, while imports gained by 18.9%, reported the Ministry of Finance.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher but declined thereafter, down 0.9% after a soft earnings report from battery-making colossus Contemporary Amperex Technology, shares of which slipped 12% on the day.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 215.87 to 23,651.87, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 64 to 28. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.6%.

Leading the upside was computer-maker Lenovo, gaining 2.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 3,713.03.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 3.3%; the Taiwan TWSE was up 1.3%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.6%, and the Thai Set was up 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.2%

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 1.1% on the day.

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