Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday as inflation and trade war fears offset Chinese AI optimism.
Tariff worries prevailed as U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a probe into potential tariffs on copper imports to boost US production of the critical metal.
Treasury yields rebounded but the dollar remained undermined by growth worries. Gold hovered near one-week lows despite rising bets on earlier Fed rate cuts.
Oil bounced off two-month lows after the American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week.
If confirmed by the EIA later in the day, it would mark the first decline in U.S. crude oil inventories since mid-January.
China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.02 percent to 3,380.21 following Morgan Stanley's upbeat price target revisions for major Chinese banks amid stabilizing credit risks.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 3.27 percent to 23,787.93 on optimism fueled by AI activity and amid China's efforts to enhance support for the private sector after years of crackdowns.
E-commerce giant Alibaba jumped 4.8 percent after unveiling a public AI model for video and image creation.
Food delivery company Meituan soared 9.8 percent, gaming and technology company Tencent Holdings climbed 3.4 percent and search engine Baidu rose 3.3 percent.