South Korean shares reversed sharp losses and Taiwan stocks pared declines on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump acknowledged Democrats' victory in Congress, easing political uncertainty.
The KOSPI closed 0.6% higher after plunging more than 4%, while Taiwan's benchmark ended down 0.8%, recovering from a 3.3% slide.
Democrats captured majorities in both the Senate and House, delivering a sweeping electoral victory that extended deep into Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas.
Investors had initially worried that a Democratic-controlled Congress could lead to tighter oversight of data-centre projects and other sectors tied to the AI trade.
Trump's indication that he would not challenge the election outcome helped ease some of those concerns, while investors also judged the earlier market reaction to be excessive, said Inki Cho, senior financial market strategist at online trading platform Exness.
Any major legislative changes would likely face constraints from a Republican-controlled White House with veto powers, limiting the scope for sweeping measures affecting AI infrastructure and data-centre development, Cho said.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index slipped as much as 1.5% to its lowest level since early July, extending its retreat to more than 10% from the record high touched in early September.
United Overseas Bank reported quarterly profit that missed analysts' expectations; its shares fell 4.7%.
Investors looked ahead to DBS' third-quarter earnings, which are due on Thursday, and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp's results on Friday.
"Singapore bank stocks are increasingly vulnerable to profit-taking as investor expectations remain elevated," said James Ooi, chief market strategist at Tiger Brokers.
"The key concern is whether Singapore banks can sustain profitability and returns on equity amid narrowing interest margins and moderating fee income."
Indonesia stocks pared some of their earlier losses but were still down 0.7%. Investors assessed the financial regulator's newly announced sanctions for stock market violations against a backdrop of lingering concerns over MSCI's warning.
"Despite undemanding valuations, investor focus is shifting to policy execution, market reforms and stronger enforcement," said Ari Jahja, head of Indonesia research at Macquarie Capital.
Thai stocks pared earlier losses to trade flat after a leading business group raised its forecast for the country's economic growth this year to 2.4%-2.6% from 2.1%-2.5%, citing stronger manufacturing activity and exports.
Meanwhile, emerging Asian currencies were little changed, with the South Korean won gaining 0.2% and the Malaysian ringgit trading broadly steady.
The Indonesian rupiah weakened to 18,170 per US dollar, not far from the record lows it hit in early June. - Reuters
