Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, turning away from early losses, after a capital infusion in banking giant Citigroup helped to alleviate some concerns about the global credit crisis.
Tokyo markets erased most of a 2 percent loss in the morning session, with the 225-constituent Nikkei Stock Average ending up 0.6 percent at 15,222.85 while the Topix added 0.8 percent at 1,478.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index trimmed steep losses to trade 1.5 percent lower, ending the session off 416 points at 27,210. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended 1.6 percent lower at 16,279.
Shares of HSBC Holdings fell 2 percent to HK$130.90. The stock was beaten down after the bank announced a $35 billion bailout of its structured investment vehicles Monday. The declines bring HSBC's shares year-to-date performance to minus 6.4 percent.
Weakness was also noted in other regional banking stocks, with Australia's Macquarie Bank shedding 3.1 percent.
Shares of Sony Corp. climbed 4.6 percent while Samsung Electronics' stock plunged 3.7 percent after South Korea's president approved an independent investigation into allegations of a slush fund.
Shares of Canon were up 0.5 percent, while shares of Nikon Corp. fell 0.9 percent and Nintendo Co. declined 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, shares in Sanyo Electric Co. jumped 8.5 percent after the company reported that it swung to a fiscal first-half profit from a year-earlier loss.
For financials, shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Group, which were down as much as 2.9 percent in the morning, rose 3.9 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shook off a 3.9 percent deficit to climb 3.8 percent while Mizuho Financial Group bounced to a 2.9 percent gain.
And shares of Japan's fifth-biggest bank, Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., halted a 5.6 percent slide at midday to stand lower by just 0.1 percent at the close.
ELSEWHERE:
JAKARTA: Indonesia's Jakarta Composite fell 0.8 percent.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.2 percent to 1,859.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index was down 1.3 percent.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted Price Index fell 1.8 percent.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 percent.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 reversed its downward course to rise 0.7 percent.
with files from other wire services
