By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- After a promising start, Asian shares turned mixed by midday Tuesday, though Japanese equities managed to hold on to gains, thanks to a sharp rise in major bank stocks. In early afternoon trade, Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.3% and the Topix was higher by 0.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was flat a half hour before the lunch break. An overnight rally in U.S. financials helped Japanese banks, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (JP:8306 408.00, +1.00, +0.25%) (MTU 4.72, +0.06, +1.29%) rising 3.7% and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (JP:8411 136.00, 0.00, 0.00%) (MFG 3.16, +0.04, +1.28%) up 2.2%. But Hong Kong-listed lenders were mixed, with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1288 3.57, +0.08, +2.29%) gaining 2%, while Bank of Communications (HK:3328 8.53, -0.07, -0.81%) (BKFCF 1.03, 0.00, 0.00%) lost 0.9%. In Shanghai, BoCom shares (CN:601328 6.37, -0.02, -0.31%) were 0.9% lower, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4%. Elsewhere, Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was up by 0.4%, and Seoul's Kospi was 0.2% higher, but Taipei's Taiex lost 0.2%, and Mumbai's Sensex and S&P/CNX Nifty were both flat ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision, due later in the day. |
