Shares in Asia close mostly higher after tech stocks continue decline on Wall Street

Shares in Asia close mostly higher after tech stocks continue decline on Wall Street · CNBC

Markets in Asia closed mostly in the green on Tuesday after tech stocks extended their losses stateside.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 (CBOE: .NKXQ) dipped 0.05 percent or 9.83 points to close at 19,898.75 while South Korea's benchmark Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS100) index rose 0.71 percent or 16.83 points to end at 2,374.7.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: .AXJO) surged 1.67 percent or 94.996 points to finish the session at 5,772.8. Markets were driven by broad-based strength, with the financials sub-index leading gains and trading higher by 2.39 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) was trading 0.35 percent higher at 3:00 p.m. HK/SIN. Markets on the mainland also traded higher, with the Shanghai Composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) closing 0.46 percent or 14.5024 points at 3,154.379 and the Shenzhen Composite jumping 1.259 percent or 23.1189 points to finish at 1,859.881.

Moving forward, the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is likely to be closely watched as investors await the Federal Reserve's decision on an interest rate hike. The decision is due Wednesday U.S. time.

Despite the extended fall in big tech names in the U.S. yesterday, after dropping almost 3 percent last Friday, tech plays in Asia painted more of a mixed picture.

"I don't sit in the camp that we will see a prolonged pullback in U.S. tech, but there is a good chance this hot sector now under performs," said Chief Market Strategist Chris Weston in a morning note.

South Korean tech stocks were higher after the sell-off in the last session. LG Display (Korea Stock Exchange: 3422-KR) surged 7.74 percent and memory chip supplier SK Hynix (Korea Stock Exchange: 66-KR) traded jumped 2.26 percent. Samsung Electronics (Korea Stock Exchange: 593'A-KR) reversed earlier losses to climb 0.04 percent.

Tech stocks in Japan were mixed, with most companies trading lower. Sharp was down by 2.56 percent and Yahoo Japan tumbled 2.05 percent, but Fujitsu added 1.6 percent.

Shares of South Korea's Hyundai (: 538'A-KR) gained 1.23 percent following news the automaker would be exporting its Kona SUV model to Europe and the U.S. later this year. The electric SUV will be able to cover 390 kilometers per charge, according to Reuters.

Several employees of Crown Resorts (ASX: CWN-AU), the Australian gaming group, were charged in China for the "promotion of gambling," Reuters reported. Shares of Crown finished 0.62 percent up.

Meanwhile, Australian media company Ten Network (ASX: TEN-AU) requested that its shares be halted from trade after the company's guarantors said they did not intend to "extend ... support for (Ten Network's) credit facilities" after the term ended on Dec. 23, 2017.