Market Update
Shares in Asia ended in the red, with the exception of Japan, which gained on the back of some strong earnings.
At close, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.4%, while China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and India's Sensex declined 0.4% to 0.5%. Australia's ASX lost 0.8%.
A weak yen, some strong earnings in U.S. earnings overnight and local earnings that showed little impact from last month's earthquake sent Japan's stocks higher, even as Standard & Poor's cut the country's outlook to "negative" from "stable".
Stocks on the Move
In Tokyo, Canon rose 7% after its results, bouncing back after the recent correction when media reports had tipped the firm's results in advance. Mitsubishi gained 2% after declaring its earnings.
But Daiwa Securities dropped 4.4% after announcing its quarterly numbers.
In Hong Kong and Shanghai, a broad-based decline in financials, property and resource stocks weighed on the index but aviation stocks witnessed buying.
China Merchants Bank lost 2.6%, Poly Real Estate was off 2% while CNOOC ended 0.5% lower.
China Eastern Airlines gained 0.9% after crude oil prices dipped.
Indian stocks traded positive in the initial part of the day but slipped in the red later. Technology stocks were pressured after Wipro fell 3%, post its earnings announcement. Peer Tata Consultancy Services lost 0.5%.
In Sydney, retail stocks under-performed the index, after high inflation data led to expectations of monetary policy tightening. David Jones erased 2.3%.
While Equinox Minerals jumped 6.8% following its takeover by Canada's Barrick Gold.