Asian stocks ended in mixed fashion Tuesday, as the positive mood from the prior-day’s Shanghai-led rally induced both profit-taking and stoked further enthusiasm among investors.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dumped 204.11 points, or 1.1%, succumbing to late profit-taking pressure to end at 19,206.99
Investors are now viewing the Bank of Japan’s quarterly survey of business sentiment, due Wednesday morning before the market open, for more clues to the investing environment.
Exchange-trade funds buying by the BOJ only makes it harder for other investors to purchase shares cheaply.
The Hang Seng Index gained 45.77 points, or 0.2%, to 24,900.89.
Chinese stocks surged Monday after Beijing signaled the country can ease monetary policy to boost sluggish growth, with Hong Kong and Shanghai indexes chalking up their biggest one-day gains in months.
Stocks in Australia and New Zealand both made gains. They were seen helped by Barclays pulling forward its expectation for the next cut in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia to April, from May.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 lost 36.97 points, or 0.9%, to 4,051.20
The Taiex index in Taiwan added 64.57 points, or 0.7%, to 9,586.44
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index surrendered 7.25 points, or 0.2%, to 3,447.01
The Kospi index in Korea gained 10.99 points, or 0.5%, to 2,041.03
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained 12.70 points, or 0.2%, to 5,833.99
The S&P/ASX index recovered 45.42 points, or 0.8%, to 5,891.51
