Market Update
Stocks in Asia ended mostly higher but Japan edged lower after renewed concerns of high radiation levels weighed on sentiment.
At close, Japan's Nikkei declined 0.2% while China's Shanghai Composite also fell 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India's Sensex and Australia's ASX rose 0.4% to 1%.
Japanese equities continued to unnerve investors even as authorities continued in their fight to cool down the broken nuclear plants damaged by March 11's earthquake.
The Japanese yen, however, continued to trade under pressure following the recent liquidity injections by the Bank of Japan.
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, Elpida Memory fell 4% while automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan dropped 2.6% to 4.6% on concerns of production being hampered by a shortfall in auto parts.
Shares in Hong Kong were boosted by firmer commodity prices with oil explorer CNOOC, rising 1.8%, providing a further boost thanks to its robust results. PetroChina edged up 0.5% after crude prices topped the $105 per barrel mark in overnight trading.
Mainland shares, however, were subdued with selling in property stocks capping gains: Poly Real Estate was off 0.6% while Gemdale Corp fell 1.5%.
Indian stocks rose for the third consecutive day, with technology and real estate stocks logging the most gains. Developer Unitech surged 9.6% while technology outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services gained 2.8%.
In Sydney, miners led a broad-based advance with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto added 1.1% each. Gold miner Newcrest Mining climbed 2.6% as prices of the yellow metal rose.