According to the Korea Herald, HKET and RTHK, Asian equities were mixed at midday Wednesday, with Japanese and Taiwanese chip names rallying while Seoul reversed early gains and Hong Kong hovered near flat.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 traded at 66,722.07 in the afternoon session, up 1,240.80 points or 1.89% as of 04:33 UTC, buoyed by chip-related shares after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.32% overnight. Tokyo Electron gained 2.65% and Advantest added 1.18%.

Seoul's KOSPI, which had opened 1.17% higher on chip strength, surrendered those gains to trade at 6,859.76 by midday, down 11.05 points or 0.16% as of 04:33 UTC, as elevated US Treasury yields weighed on sentiment. Samsung Electronics eased 1.28%, while SK hynix held up with a 1.30% advance.

Hong Kong stocks were little changed on the last trading day before the National Day holiday, with the Hang Seng Index ending the morning at 24,513, down 10 points or 0.04%, on turnover of HK$88.77 billion; the Hang Seng Tech Index slipped 0.2% to 4,243. Pharmaceutical names led, with CSPC Pharmaceutical up about 5% and WuXi Biologics rising more than 3%, while HSBC fell more than 1% and Tencent and SMIC each eased close to 1%. Newly listed RoboTechnik surged more than 194% on its debut.

Taiwan's TAIEX advanced 585.92 points or 1.23% to 48,217.88 as of 04:33 UTC, retaking the 48,000 level, led by TSMC's 1.21% gain to NT$2,505; panel maker AU Optronics hit its daily limit-up on heavy volume.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.27% to 3,840 at the midday break, while the Shenzhen Component eased 0.06% to 12,894 and the ChiNext Index slipped 0.17% to 3,137, as innovative-drug and CRO shares strengthened and semiconductors came under pressure.