Asian stocks mostly up
Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday as a huge Chinese trade surplus and upbeat corporate news in Japan boosted sentiment but European debt fears weighed after a downgrade of Greece's credit rating.
The Nikkei closed on a high after moving in and out of positive territory, lifted by strong Toshiba results and positive news from Toyota, which helped to offset the downside caused by a surging yen.
Tokyo closed 0.25 percent, or 24.38 points, higher at 9,818.76 while Shanghai finished up 0.63 percent, or 18.17 points, at 2,890.63.
Taipei closed 0.14 percent, or 12.20 points, higher at 9,023.28 but Sydney closed 0.65 percent, or 31 points, lower at 4,725.8.
Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for public holidays.
Trade was light ahead of the release Wednesday of key inflation data out of China, with many hoping price rises would have eased in April after hitting a two-year high 5.4 percent in March.
Tokyo ended up thanks in part to the data from China, a key trading partner, as well as Toshiba saying it had posted a $1.7 billion profit in the year to March while Sumitomo Heavy soared following forecasts of an 18 percent rise in net profit.
The euro was at $1.4326 in Tokyo from 1.4358 in New York late Monday. The single European currency also fell to 115.18 yen from 115.31.
The dollar was at 80.37 yen from 80.34.
Singapore closed 0.62 percent, or 19.32 points, higher at 3,156.26. Manila ended 1.08 percent, or 45.98 points, higher at 4,303.13.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone was up 3.1 percent at 2,480 pesos and International Container Terminal gained 3.5 percent at 49.50.
Jakarta gained 0.40 percent, or 15.07 points, to 3,800.52. Mumbai closed flat, edging down 16.19 points, to 18,512.77.
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