Asia-Pacific stocks gain as investors weigh economic concerns
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on Tuesday as investors weigh economic concerns.
UsenB
SINGAPORE — Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on Tuesday as investors weighed economic concerns.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed earlier losses to climb 0.7% in its final hour of trade, while the Hang Seng Tech index gained 0.73%.
Technology investor Prosus NV will sell some of its stake in Tencent to fund a stock buyback of itself and parent Naspers, the Dutch firm said on Monday. Hang Seng heavyweight Tencent fell 4.02% in the last hour of trading.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.66% to close at 27,049.47, while the Topix gained 1.06% to 1,907.38.
In South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.84% at 2,422.09, while the Kosdaq declined 0.14% to 769.51.
Mainland Chinese markets were higher. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.89% at 3,409.21, and the Shenzhen Component advanced 1.23% to close at 12,982.69.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares rose 0.29%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.86% higher at 6,763.6 at the end of the day.
"What we're actually starting to see is a little bit of evidence — it's very tentative, but a little bit of evidence — of investors looking to time the bottom in terms of the equity market in particular," said Dwyfor Evans, head of APAC macro strategy at State Street Global Markets.
"We are seeing a little bit more constructive behavior in terms of moving back into some of the most heavily sold off sectors," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Tuesday.
There is a clear lack of conviction by investors with light trading volumes favoring the notion of an exhausted market.
Rodrigo Catril
Currency strategist, National Australia Bank
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Overnight in the U.S., the major indexes fell following a major rebound on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 62.42 points, or 0.2%, to 31,438.26. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 3,900.11, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%, falling to 11,524.55.
"There is a clear lack of conviction by investors with light trading volumes favoring the notion of an exhausted market, with big declines set to be recorded this quarter, notwithstanding the outsized gains logged last week," Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note Tuesday.
"Investors remained wary of bear market rallies and could not shake off lingering U.S. recession worries," DBS Group Research strategists said in a note.
