Asian shares were modestly higher Tuesday, with automakers and brokerage stocks helping the Tokyo market turn higher from morning losses.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 squeaked ahead 8.04 points, to close at 9,887.89
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index picked up 10.24 points to 20,062.15
Overall demand was tepid, however, after stocks in the U.S. turned around from an early rally following a downgrade for Greece's debt rating served as a reminder that Europe's debt issues were far from resolved. Moody's Investors Service slashed Greece's government debt rating by four notches, to Ba1 from A3, following a similar move by Standard & Poor's in April.
But the downgrade was not expected to have a big impact on Asian equities.
Australian shares were helped up by strength in financials, industrials and utilities, although materials plays were down.
BHP Billiton was down 0.4%, Woodside Petroleum was down 1.1%, while National Australia Bank rose 0.7%, and QBE advanced 0.5%.
Traders were awaiting Wall Street's next moves, with the focus turning to Wednesday's U.S. industrial production data and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on financial regulation.
Shares of News Corp. fell 2.7% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is seeking to buy the 61% stake of U.K. satellite-television company British Sky Broadcasting Group it doesn't own.
The Journal said that according to people familiar with the matter the two sides have been haggling over deal price and other terms for BSkyB. News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
Asciano Group rose 0.9% after news it signed a 10-year coal haulage contract with Anglo American PLC, which is expected to generate revenue of more than A$775 million.
Automakers and technology stocks were higher, with Toyota up 1.4%, Honda 0.5% higher, Sony rising 0.3% and Toshiba up 0.4%. Brokerage shares rose with Nomura Holdings up 2.8%, Daiwa SG up 2.5% and Mizuho Securities up 3.6% on ratings upgrades by Credit Suisse.
The South Korean market was up on demand from foreign investors as well as on program buying.
Automakers and some technology plays were up on earnings hopes. Kia Motors rose 2.4% to snap a five-session losing streak, Hyundai Motor added 2.5%, while Hynix Semiconductor rose 2.5%.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was mostly steady against the U.S. dollar and yen as the single currency took heart from better-than-expected euro-zone data which offset concerns over Moody's Greece downgrade.
The euro was fetching $1.2218 against the dollar, from $1.2225 U.S. late in New York Monday, and was at Y111.81 against the yen, from Y111.81. The dollar was buying Y91.53, compared with Y91.47.
Elsewhere;
Shanghai markets still have the first portion of the week off for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved 0.14 points higher to 2,818.21
Korea’s Kospi index shed 6.67 points, or 0.2%, to 1,690.03
Taiwan’s Taiex index added 66.66 points, or 0.9%, to 7,454.06
New Zealand’s NZX index improved 1.24 points, to 3,043.90
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.50 points to 4,505
