Asian stock markets were mostly lower Tuesday, shrugging off Wall Street's solid rise Monday as shares in China were hurt by the weekend news of further tightening measures from Beijing, while resources plays remained a drag on Australia's market.
Japanese markets had the day off
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 48.31 points, or 0.2%, to 20,763.05
Resources plays continued to hurt Australia's market after Canberra sparked an outcry among miners when it unveiled Sunday a plan to capture a bigger share of resource profits with a new 40% tax on so-called "super profits."
Among heavyweights, BHP Billiton was off 2.1% and Rio Tinto lost 3.5%.
Lihir Gold rose 5.2% after endorsing a sweetened A$9.5 billion takeover offer from rival gold miner Newcrest Mining. Newcrest is now offering one Newcrest share for every 8.43 Lihir shares, plus 22.5 Australian cents per Lihir share, less any interim dividend paid.
The companies said the offer is a 6.4% improvement on Newcrest's original offer, which Lihir rejected. Newcrest was off 3.2%.
Solid gains in South Korea's automaker stocks weren't enough to hold up the market, which was hit by declines in financial and construction plays. Hyundai Motor advanced 3.4% on news its U.S. sales rose 30% on-year in April, as consumers were lured to its new Sonata and Tucson models; Kia Motors tacked on 3.6% after it posted a 32.8% rise in domestic sales in April.
Daewoo Motor Sales bucked the market, falling 5.5% despite news on Monday that its creditors had paid debts on behalf of the vehicle sales and real estate development firm to help it stay afloat. Traders say investors remained wary about the firm's viability.
In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar rose to its highest level against the yen since August 2009, touching Y94.98, from Y94.59 in late New York trade on Monday. The euro bought Y125.22, from Y124.80.
CHINA
China shares, which resumed trade after a holiday Monday, opened sharply lower in a knee-jerk response to the central bank's move over the weekend to increase banks' reserve requirement ratio for the third time this year. The market has since recouped some of the early losses.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 toppled 47.92 points, or 1.6%, to 3,019.45
China Vanke lost 2.6%, Poly Real Estate Group fell 3.8% and Bank of China slipped 1.9%.
Citic Securities lost 10%, its limit for the day, on resumption of trade after being suspended since April 16, despite the company announcing a deal with French bank Credit Agricole's corporate and investment bank to explore a combination of their equity brokerage and investment banking businesses.
Elsewhere;
Korea’s Kospi index let go of 2.46 points, or 0.1%, to 1,718.75
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved lower 43.04 points, or 1.5%, to 2,901.18
Taiwan’s Taiex index shed 21.40 points, or 0.3%, to 7,930.77
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index bucked the trend and gained 17.66 points, or 0.5%, to 3,298.02
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 48.40 points, or 1%, to 4,737.10
