Asian markets were mixed in a quiet session on Tuesday, with a weaker yen boosting Japanese stocks while Chinese stocks gave up their Monday gains but held onto the psychologically key 3,000 level.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo – which reopened after a public holiday Monday – raced ahead 323.74 points, or 1.9%, to 17,048.55
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index eased 17.4 points, or 0.1%, to 20,666.75
The Japanese yen advanced to the 111 handle against the U.S. dollar, after market close, with the dollar/yen pair trading down 0.2% at 111.70. Earlier, the pair hit a session high of 112.20, lifting shares.
Major Japanese exporters received a boost Tuesday, with Toyota adding 3.6%, Nissan up nearly 2% and Honda adding 1.2%. Of course, a weaker yen is usually a positive for exporters as it improves their overseas profit numbers when converted to local currency.
In corporate news, Japan's Jiji News reported Monday that Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn would likely reduce its capital injection into troubled electronics maker Sharp by around 100 billion yen ($898 million U.S.), compared to its initial plan of injecting 489 billion yen.
Shares of Sharp ditched 6.5% in price.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei reported that airbag manufacturer Takata planned to sell Irvin Automotive Products, an American company that produces automotive interior materials, for tens of billions of yen to fund the recall of its defective air bags. Takata shares ended up 0.4%
Mining stocks were mixed, with major miners in Australia, Rio Tinto losing 0.5% and BHP Billiton, finishing down 1.5% respectively. But iron ore producer Fortescue closed up 0.4%, following an overnight uptick in iron ore prices to $58 a tonne, from $56.30 U.S. on Friday.
Energy plays finished mixed, with Santos closing up 0.3%, Woodside Petroleum higher by 0.8% Japan's Inpex closing down 0.9% and South Korea's S-Oil fell 0.3%.
The Australian dollar climbed up to the $0.76 level against the greenback after market close, before retreating slightly as the pair traded up 0.2% to 0.7594.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Glenn Stevens said earlier Tuesday that the recent rise of the Aussie was risky. Stevens added that commodity prices would need to recover strongly and the U.S. Federal Reserve would have to keep interest rates at current levels to justify the higher Aussie dollar.
CHINA
Chinese markets, which were up Monday after authorities signaled the loosening of controls over margin lending, retreated.
The Shanghai CSI 300 index erased 23.65 points, or 0.7%, to 3,225.79
Chinese metal plays were mostly lower, with shares of Baoshan Steel closing down 2%, Shandong Jinling Mining down 4.5% and Yunnan Copper lower by 2.8%.
Mainland Chinese energy plays were mixed, with Sinopec adding 2.7%
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 7.05 points, or 0.4%, to 1,996.81
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index dropped 27.02 points, or 0.3%, to 8,785.68
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked back 0.04 points to 2,880.65
The NZX 50 in New Zealand gained 22.32 points, or 0.3%, to 6,664.25
In Australia, the ASX 200 lost 0.5 points to 5,166.62
