Stocks in Asia closed mixed Tuesday, with the Japanese market adding to yesterday’s losses while the Indian market gained for the seventh consecutive day.
At close, Japan's Nikkei and China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively, while India's Sensex and Australia's ASX rose 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed flat.
Japanese equities were pressured even as the country battles to the damaged Fukushima nuclear plants that once threatened to melt down and trigger a nuclear crisis.
But Indian stocks marched forward, adding to the recent rally, with the benchmark Sensex topping the 19,000 mark as crude oil prices slipped in the commodities market.
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, automakers witnessed selling as investors weighed the impact of the recent earthquake on production. Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki lost 1% to 1.2%.
In Shanghai, gains in property stocks failed to offset losses in metals. Poly Real Estate advanced 0.8% while Jiangxi Copper and Yunnan Tin dropped over 2% each. Financials ended mixed.
Indian stocks were led higher by telecom and property stocks: Bharti Airtel jumped 2.9% while DLF surged 3.3%.
In Sydney, financials boosted the index with National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank and Westpac Banking Group rising 0.3% to 1%. Miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto closed 0.5% higher each.