South Korean stocks lead gains in Asia markets, with Kospi up 1%

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose, breaking ranks with key Wall Street peers that saw declines led by tech stocks.

Investors in the region are awaiting India’s HSBC Composite flash purchasing managers’ index reading for August, which provides an early snapshot of the performance of the private sector economy, expected later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters expect it to come in at 60.5, compared with 61.1 in the month before.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.57%, with losses led by Daiichi Sankyo, SoftBank Group and Oriental Land. Strong gains, however, were seen in Mitsui Mining and Smelting, which gained 11.7% and Advantest, which rose 3.07%.

Meanwhile, the broader Topix index ticked down 0.57%.

Yields on Japan’s 20-year government bonds rose to 2.646%, after hitting a 26-year high earlier in the session.

In South Korea, the Kospi index rose 1%, while the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.64%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was up 0.81%, after hitting a intra-day record high of 8,983 earlier in the session.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 moved up 0.48%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ticked down 0.14%.

U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asia hours.

Overnight stateside, two of the three key benchmarks ended the session in declines as tech stocks dragged the market lower.

The broad market S&P 500 index slipped 0.24% to close at 6,395.78, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.67% and settled at 21,172.86. Wednesday marked a fourth day of losses for the S&P 500 and a second negative session for the Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, adding 16.04 points, or 0.04%, and settling at 44,938.31.

— CNBC’s Yun Li, Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report.