By Daniel Inman
Asian markets were mostly lower on Tuesday, as Australia was
weighed by further falls in mining stocks, while Japanese stocks
recovered from a sharp fall in the previous session.
The Nikkei Average started the day 0.6% higher, as the market
recovered from a 1.1% drop on Monday -- the index's largest daily
fall in a month. The index gave up some of those gains as the
session progressed, and was last up 0.5%.
Tokyo stocks were supported by a weaker yen, which stabilized
after the dollar softened overnight. The greenback (USDJPY) was
last trading at Yen102.03, compared with Yen101.83 late Monday in
New York.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2%, as mining companies were
hit by further falls in the price of iron ore, which fell 2% to a
fresh 21-month low. Rio Tinto (RIO) lost 0.9% and Fortescue Metals
Group (FSUMY) was 2.7% lower.
Energy stocks in Sydney were also weighed by news that Royal
Dutch Shell is selling 3.2 billion Australian dollars worth of
shares in Woodside Petroleum to institutional investors, which were
selling other stocks to buy into the deal -- especially in the
energy sector, with Oil Search down 1.9% and Santos down 1.6%.
Also in Australia, the local currency (AUDUSD) fell to 93.62
U.S. cents compared with 94.01 U.S. cents late Monday in New York
after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia said that its
accommodative stance on interest rates will be likely appropriate
for some time.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose by 0.2%, Singapore's
Straits Times lost 0.4%, and the Philippines PSEi fell by 0.6%.
In China stocks were lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index
down 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite down 0.5%.
Trading was generally quiet, following a flat session in the
U.S. overnight, as markets waited for the conclusion of the Federal
Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday, which will give an update on
the direction of monetary policy in the world's largest
economy.
More MarketWatch news:
Japan's Abe unveils corporate-tax cut, other reforms
Asia Stocks live blog: Policy plays in Japan and China
IMF urges U.S. to raise minimum wage
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