Asian shares mostly advance following US midterms, though Kospi falls on selling of chipmakers

Asian stock markets experienced a mostly positive trend on Thursday, following the success of U.S. stocks after the midterm elections. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 3% as President Donald Trump's party lost its sole control of Washington. Brent crude oil prices, on the other hand, were trading near $94, marking a two-month low.

South Korea's Kospi sank more than 4%, primarily due to heavy selling of computer chipmakers. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Shanghai Composite in Shanghai saw slight gains. U.S. stocks typically benefit from midterm elections, and the S&P 500 rose 1.6% on Wednesday. Asian markets, which were not as heavily invested in the AI industry, saw an overall increase on Thursday.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, Elon Musk's company, and other companies related to artificial intelligence suffered significant losses. A Democratic-led Congress might ease tensions with Iran, which negatively impacted stocks of military equipment manufacturers. Oil prices dropped due to potential pressure from a Democratic-controlled Congress to reduce military spending, negatively affecting renewable energy stocks.