Asian indexes ended on a mixed note Tuesday, with several markets staging a sharp recovery on unconfirmed speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve would convene an emergency meeting to consider an interest rate cut, said traders.
The Nikkei 225 average ended 1.1 percent higher at 15,211.52, after hitting a low of 14,751.27 earlier in the day. The broader Topix index ended 0.9 percent up at 1,469.27.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed 1.1 percent up at 27,771.21, recovering more than 1,300 points from the day's low of 26,404.28. The 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises Index closed 2 percent higher at 16,867.38.
Financials gained on bargain buying, with shares of Mizuho Financial Group climbing 2.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group closing 1.8 percent higher, after both made sharp losses earlier in the day.
BHP Billiton stock tumbled 3.1 percent and Rio Tinto shed 3 percent in Sydney, Korea Zinc Co. shares dropped 2.6 percent in Seoul and Hindalco Industries dropped 1.7 percent in Mumbai.
In Hong Kong, shares of China Mobile rose 2 percent on news that the company added as many as 6.6 million new customers in October, taking its total subscriber base to 356.3 million.
Shares of fixed-line operators China Telecom Corp. and China Netcom Group Corp. climbed on expectations that they could soon receive licenses for third-generation, or 3G, cellular services. China Telecom stock jumped 8.1 percent and China Netcom stock soared 11.1 percent.
ELSEWHERE:
MUMBAI: India's Sensex fell 0.3 percent to 19,573.65.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi shed 1.1 percent to 1,872.24.
SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Composite rebounded from its intraday losses to end 0.5 percent higher at 5,293.70.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index rose 0.8 percent at 3,438.33.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index ended little changed at 8,680.86.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.7 percent to 6,425.40.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index declined 1.2 percent to 4,067.30,
with files from other wire services
