Most major Asian markets ended lower Tuesday, with Chinese property and financial shares dragged down on renewed fears Beijing may act to cool rising residential property prices.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index dipped 22.20 points Tuesday, or 0.2%, to 10,083.48
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell backward 271.83 points, or 1.2%, to 21,813.92.
There was caution a day after Abu Dhabi's move to provide $10 billion U.S. in financing to help Dubai cover its debts helped regional markets rebound, with investors also warily looking forward to the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting and a batch of U.S. data this week.
Shipping stocks fell after the Baltic Dry Index extended losses from the previous day, with Nippon Yusen K.K. falling 1.9% and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines shedding 1.5% in Tokyo, STX Pan Ocean losing 1.2% in Seoul and China Cosco Holdings dropping 2.3% in Hong Kong.
In Sydney, banks and resources stocks advanced after the rise on Wall Street, with some analysts expecting the market to move sideways in the near-term. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rose 1.3% and BHP Billiton gained 1.1%.
Real-estate shares outperformed in Tokyo. Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Takahiko Kishi said the buying was due mainly to a Nikkei report that Secured Capital Japan, a leading real-estate fund, would buy the Pacific Century Place building in Tokyo's Marunouchi district for about 140 billion yen ($1.58 billion U.S.) this month in the biggest domestic real-estate transaction since the financial crisis began.
Mitsui Fudosan was up 2.1% and Mitsubishi Estate rose 2.9%.
Oil refiners declined in Seoul after crude prices fell Monday, with SK Energy dropping 0.9%. But auto and technology stocks ended higher following gains on Wall Street, with LG Electronics rising 2.2% and Hyundai Motor climbing 1.4%.
CHINA
Chinese property and banking stocks declined after China's State Council said it would take steps to cool rapidly rising property prices in some cities and that it aims to improve supply of low-cost housing.
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index slid 29.41 points, 0.8%, to 3,583.34
Shares of China Vanke lost 3.4% in Shenzhen and Poly Real Estate Group gave up 3.4% in Shanghai, while Guangzhou R&F Properties shed 3.5% and Country Garden Holdings fell 4.8% in Hong Kong.
Banks also dropped on worries about restrictions on credit flows to the property sector, with China Merchants Bank falling 1% and China Construction Bank losing 2.2% in Hong Kong. In Shanghai, the stocks fell 0.5% and 1%, respectively
Elsewhere;
Taiwan’s Taiex index was down 11.51 points, or 0.2%, to 7,807.62
Singapore’s Straits Times index nipped back 0.84 points to 2,798.70
Korea’s Kospi index gained 1.08 points to 1,665.85
New Zealand’s NZX Index finished 18.32 points, 0.6%, higher at 3,117.11
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 19.50 points, or 0.4%, to 4,673.50
