Asian stocks mostly higher after Wall Street closed mixed
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Asian stocks were mostly higher in range-bound trade on Tuesday after Wall Street closed mixed.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 percent to 20,213.62 while South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 2,391.33. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 0.2 percent to 25,911.78. China's Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,185.91. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.5 percent to 3,224.53. Stocks in Taiwan were lower but in Singapore and the Philippines, they were higher.
ANALYST'S TAKE: "A mixed U.S. session leaves Asia markets to fend for itself once again," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. "Asia Pacific shares which saw broad gains at the start of the week could find more disparate returns on the heels of a tech slide."
TECH SLIDE: Some Asian tech shares mirrored losses in their U.S. peers overnight. Tech stocks were among the biggest losers on Wall Street on Monday, reflecting investors' indecisiveness in the sector, Pan said. LG Electronics Inc. fell 3 percent while SoftBank Group declined 0.8 percent and Sharp Corp. dropped 0.5 percent.
WALL STREET: Wall Street closed mostly higher Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.03 percent to 2,439.07. The Dow gained 0.1 percent to 21,409.55. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.3 percent to 6,247.15.
CENTRAL BANKERS: Investors will pay attention to upcoming remarks by central bankers around the world even as they do not expect major revelations on monetary policies. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, is scheduled to speak at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal later in the day. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak in London.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 12 cents to $43.50 per barrel on electronic trading in New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 37 cents, or 0.9 percent, to settle at $43.38 a barrel on Monday. Brent, the international standard, gained 14 cents to $46.18 per barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.90 yen from 111.84 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1101 from $1.1185.