Asia stocks were mixed on Tuesday, with Hong Kong and Australia’s markets closing earlier ahead of the Christmas holiday on Wednesday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 9.47 points to 23,830.58.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.40 per U.S. dollar after strengthening from levels around 109.5 in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 42.2 points, or 0.2%, to 27,846.21.
Shares of Apple suppliers regionally were mixed on Tuesday. Taiyo Yuden was up 2.5% in Japan while South Korea’s LG Display slipped 2.19%.
In Hong Kong, Sunny Optical declined 0.4% while Taiwan’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.6%.
The moves came following the Cupertino-based tech giant’s 1.6% stock jump on Monday stateside after Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives — Apple’s biggest bull on Wall Street — raised his price target to $350 a share, 25% higher than where the stock currently trades.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6917 after rising from levels around $0.69 yesterday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 restocked 25.86 points, or 0.7%, to 3,992.96
News that China will cut import tariffs on a wide range of goods boosted sentiment. China’s finance ministry announced starting January 1, it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products ranging from frozen pork to some types of semiconductors. However, mainland Chinese stocks tumbled on Monday following that announcement.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex docked 45.85 points, or 0.4%, to 11,976.38
In Korea, the Kospi deleted 13.63 points, or 0.6%, to 2,190.08
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked up 7.67 points, or 0.2%, to 3,221.67
In New Zealand, the NZX jumped 95.55 points, or 0.8%, to 11,642.78
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 9.06 points, or 0.1%, to 6,794.20
