The bargain buyers moved in on Tuesday lifting equity markets across the region though surging cases of the new Covid variant continue to weigh

Stay, swap or shed – that’s the dilemma facing investors holding billions of dollars worth of equity in Chinese firms listed in the States

The Nikkei and Hang Seng indexes both fell back after the previous day’s rally with traders concerned about tapering, inflation and virus lockdowns returning

The move closely follows a US investment ban on Chinese facial recognition company SenseTime over its links to Uyghur crackdowns

Traders were boosted by the Federal Reserve’s long-awaited announcement on tapering and interest rate hikes to fight rising prices

The Chinese AI firm was forced to cancel the offering after the US blacklisted it over alleged links to the Uyghur crackdowns in Xinjiang

Hong Kong saw a fourth day of selling, while Shanghai also dipped as data showed China's economy slowing again last month

Merck announcement follows world's largest contract chip maker TSMC saying it will build a new chip factory in Kaohsiung

The MariSilicon X chip – made using TSMC tech processes – is a further sign of hardware firm’s move into the semiconductor sector

China’s property market problems also weighed heavily on investors already spooked by AI firm SenseTime pulling the plug on its Hong Kong IPO

American tech giant will expand manufacturing for its advanced semiconductor packaging technologies in the northern state of Penang

Asia’s traders were playing the waiting game on Monday with rising inflation leaving them convinced the US Federal Reserve will pull the plug on its ultra-loose monetary policy this week