This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets rose Thursday, breaking ranks with Wall Street which declined sharply after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that ongoing trade tensions could challenge the central bank's goals of controlling inflation and spurring growth.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased 1.61% to end the day at 21,395.14 while Mainland China's CSI 300 closed flat at 3,772.22.

Indian stocks reversed course from losses in early trade. The benchmark Nifty 50 advanced 1.61% while the broader BSE Sensex surged 1.63% as at 2.15 p.m. Indian Standard Time.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.35% to end the day at 34,377.60, while the broader Topix index added 1.29% to 2,530.23.

In South Korea, the Kospi index increased 0.94% to close at 2,470.41 while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.81% to 711.75, after the central bank held interest rates at 2.75%, as expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended the day up 0.78% at 7,819.10.

The uncertainty in global trade has pushed Thomas Poullaouec, head of multi-asset Solutions APAC at T. Rowe Price, to look for opportunities outside the U.S.

"We see better opportunities outside of the U.S. (such as Europe, China and Asia-excluding Japan) on improving sentiment supported by increased fiscal spending as well as dovish central banks," he wrote in a Thursday note.

Meanwhile, Poullaouec is betting on "spread sectors including global high yield and Asia credit bonds on attractive all-in yields."

"Fundamentals remain supportive, although spreads are vulnerable to impacts of trade uncertainty," he explained.

Pollaouec is also overweight on cash and says the asset "provides attractive yields and liquidity," to take advantage of market opportunities.

U.S. futures rose even as investors weighed the impact of a trade war on the country's economic growth.

Overnight stateside, stocks fell sharply after Powell warned that the trade tensions could impact the Fed's inflation and employment goals. The sell-off in Wall Street was also triggered by a 6.9% plunge in the artificial intelligence darling Nvidia's shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 699.57 points, or 1.73%, closing at 39,669.39. The S&P 500 dropped 2.24% to end at 5,275.70, led down by the information technology sector. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 3.07% to close at 16,307.16. The tech-heavy index ended the day about 19% off its closing high, sliding closer to bear market territory.

— CNBC's Pia Singh, Alex Harring and Lisa Kailan Han contributed to this report.

TSMC first-quarter profit tops estimates, rising 60%, but Trump trade policy threatens growth

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday beat profit expectations for the first quarter, thanks to a continued surge in demand for AI chips.

TSMC's reported net income increased 60.3% from a year ago to NT$361.56 billion, while net revenue in the March quarter rose 41.6% from a year earlier to NT$839.25 billion.

The world's largest contract chip manufacturer has benefited from the AI boom as it produces advanced processors for clients such American chip designer Nvidia.

Read the full story, here.

— Dylan Butts

Yield on 10-year Indian government bond falls to over 2-year low ahead of RBI bond purchase

The yield on Indian government bonds continued to move lower on Thursday as investors ramped up their buying ahead of the central bank's debt purchase.

India's 10-year government bond fell 2 basis points to 6.374%, hitting its lowest level since Dec 2021.

The move comes as the Reserve Bank of India is reportedly slated to buy 400 billion Indian rupees ($4.68 billion) bonds maturing between 2028 to 2039 later in the day.

Meanwhile, the central government is slated to sell bonds worth 300 Indian billion rupees, which effectively translates to negative net supply for the day.

— Amala Balakrishner

Hong Kong tech giants climb despite tech sell-off on Wall Street

Technology stocks in Hong Kong climbed sharply Thursday, despite losses in several of their Asia-Pacific counterparts which took a hit from the tech sell-off on Wall Street.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech index surged 2.3% as at 12.30 p.m. local time.

Strong moves were seen in Nio which surged 3.95%, NetEase which gained 3.9% and Li Auto which rose 3.69%.

Meanwhile, shares of Kuaishou Technology and Alibaba Group Holding rose 3.39% and 3.13% respectively.

— Amala Balakrishner

Indian markets fall after three-straight days of gains

Indian markets traded in negative territory at the open, reversing course from gains in three-straight sessions.

The benchmark Nifty 50 lost 0.54% as at 9.39 a.m. Indian Standard Time.

Meanwhile, the broader BSE Sensex index was down 0.43%, extending losses from its previous session.

Among the companies leading losses were Wipro, which plunged 5.77%, HCL Technologies, which tumbled 3.06% and Hero MotoCorp which lost 2.83%.

— Amala Balakrishner

Singapore's benchmark STI rises over 1.5% to 2-week high

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 1.53% to 3,718.80 as at 11.35 a.m. local time Thursday, hitting its highest level since April 4.

Significant gains were seen in DFI Retail Group Holdings which advanced 6.7%, Jardine Matheson Holdings which added 3.17% and City Developments which increased 2.61%.

— Amala Balakrishner

Taiwan shares fall for second straight session

Taiwan's benchmark Taiex index fell 0.2% as at 11.25 a.m. local time, trading in negative territory for the second consecutive session.

The worst performers include CTCI Corp which tumbled 8%, Kim Forest Enterprise which lost 5.81% and Lung Ming Green Energy Technology Engineering which dropped 5.13%.

Declines in chip stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry also weighed on the index.

The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF shows the index's moves:

— Amala Balakrishner

Asian chip-related stocks trade mixed on Nvidia's plunge

Semiconductor-related stocks in Asia traded mixed Thursday, after a 6.9% decline in Nvidia shares spurred a tech sell-off in Wall Street.

Shares of Taiwanese chipmakers who supply to Nvidia came under pressure. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp fell 0.58% while Hon Hai Precision Industry tumbled 1.47%.

Meanwhile, shares of semiconductor-related companies in Japan and South Korea rose.

Semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest's shares surged 3.02% as at 10.41 a.m. Singapore time, while technology conglomerate SoftBank - which owns a stake in chip designer Arm - moved up 0.95%.

Shares of South Korean SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics increased 0.11% and 0.46% respectively.

— Amala Balakrishner

Hong Kong shares up over 1%, reversing course from declines in previous session

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.39% as at 10.30 a.m. local time, reversing course from two straight sessions of declines.

Among the best performers in the index were Hua Hong Semiconductor which increased 5.03%, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation which added 3.85%, Nio which advanced 3.2% and Li Auto which moved up 2.65%.

The Hang Seng Tech Index ETF shows the day's moves:

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Index was last seen up 1.01%, reversing course from declines in its Wednesday session.

— Amala Balakrishner

Australia’s job additions in March falls short of estimates

Australia added 32,200 jobs in March, falling short of Reuters poll estimates of 40,000 additions, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The country's seasonally adjusted jobless rate climbed 4.1% from 4% in the previous month, but was lower than the 4.2% forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

— Amala Balakrishner

Korean Won depreciates against dollar after central bank holds interest rates; Other Asian currencies fluctuate

The Korean won depreciated sharply Thursday, following the central bank's decision to stand pat on interest rates.

As at 8.25 a.m. Singapore time, the Korean won had weakened by 0.47% against the U.S. dollar to 1,420.40.

The move also comes alongside a rise in the U.S. dollar. The dollar index was last seen up 0.2% to 99.575.

Other Asian currencies fluctuated sharply on Thursday.

The Japanese yen slumped 0.59% against the dollar to 142.66 as trade talks between the U.S. and Japan progress.

Meanwhile, the Thai baht weakened 0.12% against the dollar to 33.11 while the Singapore dollar depreciated 0.22% against the greenback to 1.3135.

The Australian dollar, meanwhile, strengthened 0.3% against the dollar to 0.6351.

— Amala Balakrishner

Bank of Korea holds rates as country grapples with U.S. tariffs, prepares for snap election

South Korea's central bank held its policy rate at 2.75% Thursday, as the country grapples with U.S. tariffs and prepares for a snap presidential election.

This was in line with a Reuters poll of economists that forecast the bank to keep rates unchanged.

On Tuesday, South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok reportedly told parliament that the country would seek to delay the implementation of tariffs as long as possible in negotiations with the U.S.

Read the full story, here.

— Lim Hui Jie

Singapore non-oil domestic exports increase 5.4% year-on-year in March, missing estimates

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports increased 5.4% in March compared to the same period last year, missing the 14.1% growth forecast by economists polled by Reuters. The figure also falls short of the 7.6% rise seen in the previous month, data released by EnterpriseSG Thursday showed.

On a month-on-month basis, Singapore's NODX tumbled 7.6% in March, compared to a 2.6% increase seen in February. The reading is also weaker than the 0.5% fall forecast in Reuters' poll.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, on Wednesday, announced the set up of a new Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce to help local businesses and employees navigate uncertainties brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

— Amala Balakrishner

Japan exports growth misses expectations, rising by a modest 3.9% in March as tariffs bite

Japan on Thursday reported a 3.9% rise in March exports compared to a year earlier, a month after exports saw their largest rise since May 2024.

The growth missed expectations of a 4.5% rise from economists polled by Reuters, and was lower than the 11.4% jump in February.

Japan's trade deficit narrowed to 544.1 billion yen, but was wider than the Reuters poll expectations of 485.3 billion yen. The deficit in February stood at 590.5 billion yen.

Read the full story, here.

– Lim Hui Jie

Fear gauge spikes

After a recent pullback, Wall Street's "fear gauge" is once again moving higher.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, added more than 4 points, last trading above 34. That marks a turn after three straight sessions of declines.

The index spiked above 60 earlier this month as Trump's tariff policy rattled financial markets.

— Alex Harring