Most major Asian markets declined Tuesday, with Chinese and Hong Kong stocks weighed by fears Beijing may launch more measures to cool property prices, while upbeat forecasts from Fanuc and IHI Corp. helped Japanese stocks erase early losses.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 46.87 points, or 0.4%, to 11,212.66
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index erased 325.27 points, or 1.5%, to 21,621.79.
Among mainland developers, Hong Kong-listed Sino-Ocean Land Holdings fell 2.2%, while China Vanke dropped 1.3% in Shenzhen.
Hong Kong's Henderson Land dropped 3% and Hang Lung Properties shed 2.7%.
Japanese shares reversed early losses in afternoon trading, as industrial-robot maker Fanuc surged 11.5% and IHI spiked 9.3% in strong volume on their respective positive earnings outlooks.
Australian shares gave up early gains to end flat on caution ahead of the release of banks' earnings and the Henry Tax Review due Sunday, which could propose tax reforms for the resources and financial-services sectors.
Dragging the market, biotechnology company CSL dropped 4.2% after it announced late Friday that it has halted distribution of its pediatric influenza vaccine after Australian authorities linked influenza injections to severe adverse reactions in infants.
Banks retraced early gains, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.1%, Westpac Banking Corp. declining 0.4% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group falling 0.1% despite expectations they will report strong earnings this week, as they mirrored falls in their U.S. peers on Monday.
South Korean shares also erased early gains although first-quarter gross domestic product growth topped expectations.
Financial plays were hit by profit-taking, with KB Financial down 0.7% and Hana Financial dropping 1.1%.
LG Electronics jumped 2.8% ahead of the release of its first-quarter earnings Wednesday. The company is expected to swing to a profit from a year-earlier loss, helped by improvement at its flat-panel unit and as a stronger local currency helped to lower its dollar-denominated debt.
Several tech plays in Taiwan advanced after reporting strong earnings. Hon Hai Precision added 1% after its fourth-quarter profit beat expectations. Quanta Computer gained 0.7% after saying its first-quarter net rose 22% and that it expects strong growth in notebook computer shipments in the second quarter.
Wistron rose 2.8% after its first-quarter results came in better-than expected.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was at $1.3365 U.S. compared with $1.3364 U.S. in late New York trade on Monday, and at 125.41 yen versus 125.68 yen. The dollar was at 93.84 yen compared with 94.03 yen.
Elsewhere;
China's Shanghai CSI 300 composite index fell 63.59 points, or 2%, to 3,108.41
Korea’s Kospi index slid 2.65 points, or 0.2%, to 1,749.55
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 10.94 points, or 0.4%, to 2,991.68
Taiwan’s Taiex index doffed 11.70 points or 0.1% to 8,146.44
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index subtracted 14.34 points, or 0.4%, to 3,291.91
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 stepped back 1.50 points to 4,880
