An investor looks at the stock price monitor at a private securities company Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, in Shanghai, China. Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday following a muted lead from Wall Street. AP PHOTO
HONG KONG—Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday following a muted lead from Wall Street, while Tokyo slipped on profit-taking as the yen regained some of the previous day’s losses against the dollar.
Brent crude oil held up after rebounding in New York on Monday from a slump in Asian trade earlier in the day fueled by Iran’s nuclear deal.
Tokyo eased 0.67 percent, or 103.89 points, to 15,515.24, Sydney ended flat, edging up 4.2 points to 5,357.0, and Seoul added 0.33 percent, or 6.66 points, to close at 2,022.64.
Hong Kong closed flat, dipping 3.17 points to 23,681.28 and Shanghai fell 0.14 percent, or 3.04 points, to 2,183.07.
Japan’s Nikkei retreated after closing Monday at a six-month high thanks to the yen’s fall against the dollar.
The greenback climbed as high as 101.92 yen on Monday in Asia — its highest since May — before retreating in New York to end at 101.51 yen.
“The dollar’s levels are key to predicting the Nikkei, but even the smallest pause in the yen-weakening trend we’ve seen will invite profit-taking after the Nikkei’s recent run-up,” Kenichi Hirano, market analyst at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
In Asia on Tuesday the dollar fetched 101.44 yen. In other currency trading the euro bought $1.3548 compared with $1.3524, while it was also at 137.44 yen from 137.28 yen.
US shares ended little changed Monday after the Dow and S&P 500 breached key milestones last week.
The Dow — which broke 16,000 for the first time Thursday—ended up 0.05 percent at another record, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.13 percent but remained above the 1,800 level it passed on Friday.
The Nasdaq inched up 0.07 percent to 3,994.57 but was unable to hold its intraday levels above 4,000, which it hit for the first time since the 2000 dotcom bust.
On oil markets, Brent North Sea crude for January was 24 cents down at $110.76. However, prices had sunk about two percent to levels around $108.50 in Asia Monday in response to Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The contract bounced back in New York trade later in the day.
Iran on Sunday agreed to curb its nuclear program for the next six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
The move raised fears of a supply glut but those were later eased as it emerged that most sanctions remain in place.
“The initial knee-jerk sell off came with the easing of the build-up in geopolitical risk premium,” Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said in a note.
“Nonetheless, the decline was short-lived as traders understood that the deal will not see a glut of oil supply.”
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for January delivery, was up 32 cents at $94.41 on Tuesday in Asia.
Gold fetched $1,250.87 per ounce at 1040 GMT compared with $1,231.50 on Monday.
In other markets:
— Mumbai fell 0.87 percent, or 180.06 points, to 20,425.02 points.
State-run oil refiner Bharat Petroleum fell 6.33 percent to 325.50 rupees while real estate developer Unitech slid 7.67 percent to 15.65 rupees.
— Bangkok rose 0.43 percent, or 5.83 points, to close at 1,358.69.
Coal producer Banpu rose 3.57 percent to 29 baht, but energy gaint PTT Plc dropped 0.68 percent to 291 baht
— Kuala Lumpur’s main index ended flat at 1,798.13.
CIMB Group Holdings gained 1.6 percent to 7.63 ringgit, while UEM Sunrise rose 2.2 percent to 2.30. IHH Healthcare fell 2.9 percent to 4.04 ringgit.
— Jakarta ended down 2.30 percent, or 99.54 points, at 4,235.26.
Car maker Astra International lost 3.82 percent to 6,300 rupiah, while cement maker Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa gained 1.10 percent to 18,450 rupiah.
— Singapore closed down 0.22 percent, or 7.14 points, at 3,173.51.
Agribusiness company Wilmar International eased 0.28 percent to Sg$3.58 while United Overseas Bank was down 0.52 percent at Sg$21.00.
— Taipei rose 0.74 percent, or 60.51 points, to 8,248.02.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. climbed 2.48 percent to Tw$103.5 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.53 percent higher at Tw$75.5.
— Wellington gave up 0.48 percent, or 23.13 points, to end at 4,790.75.
Fletcher Building fell 1.4 percent to NZ$9.19 and Telecom ended down 1.8 percent at NZ$2.25. But Ryman Healthcare rose 1.3 percent to NZ$7.60 and Air New Zealand was up 2.53 percent at NZ$1.62.
— Manila closed 0.35 percent, or 21.11 points, higher at 6,025.37.
SM Investments rose 1.53 percent to 730 pesos, Ayala Land added 3.26 percent to 26.90 pesos and Alliance Global Group climbed 3.21 percent to 25.70 pesos.—Danny McCord