The major Asian markets were mostly higher in Tuesday’s session, with the exception of the Japanese and New Zealand markets. Sentiment improved partly due to a recovery by U.S. stocks overnight and due to follow through buying interest after Monday’s recovery. The Hong Kong market witnessed a broad based rally, while Australian shares rallied on buying interest found among energy and consumer staple stocks. However, the Japanese market ended lower on mixed corporate news. The price of crude continued to remain elevated.

Persistent selling kept the Japanese Nikkei 225 average below the unchanged line for the better part of Tuesday’s session. The index closed down 40.41 points or 0.23% at 17,249, marking the lowest level since April 25th. The market received support from positive earnings results, while economic data released during the day revealed a mixed mixture.

The auto space was mixed. Toyota Motor slipped 0.96%, while Honda edged up 0.23%. Isuzu and Mitsubishi Motors gained ground, while Hino, Mazda, Nissan and Suzuki Motors receded.

Oil stock Inpex Holding fell 2.44%, but Nippon Oil posted a modest gain. Japan Steel, Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel also came under selling pressure. Mining stocks were also mostly lower. Sony eased 0.63%. Fast Retailing slipped 1.035 after it announced a definitive proposal to buy U.S.-based Barneys stores from Jones Apparel (JNY).

Clarion shed 4.57% and Fujikura slipped 8.29%. NTN Corp. lost 7.71%. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Komatsu, Konami, Meidensha, Mitsui Engineering & Shipping, Nippon Suisan, NITTO Boseki, NSK, Oki Electric, Okuma and Sumitomo Trust also revealed marked weakness.

However, Teijin rose 3.35% and Sumitomo Realty advanced 2.88%. Shinshei Bank surged up 6.41% compared to a 6.05% gain by Olympus. Nikon rallied 5.52%, while NGK Insulators was up 4.57%. Sumitomo Corp., Sumitomo Chemical Co., Sojitz, Pioneer, Oji Paper, Mitsubishi Corp., Kikoman, Japan Tobacco and Daikin Industries revealed buying interest.

Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication revealed today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased 0.1% to 3.7% in June on a monthly basis. Annually, the unemployment rate improved 0.5% in June. The number of employed persons rose 0.8% to 64.91 million from the year-ago period, while the number of unemployed declined 13.3%.

Another report released by the Ministry revealed that the average amount of monthly consumption expenditures per household rose 0.1% in real terms in June from the previous year. Meanwhile, the average amount of monthly income per household jumped 7.6% in real terms annually. Consumption expenditures of workers’ households slipped 4% in real terms.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said that the total cash earnings per regular employee declined 1.1% in June to 465,174 yen. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reported that housing starts rose for the first time in three months.

Australia’s All Ordinaries advanced in early trading, but it gave back some ground by the mid-session. The index reversed course and rose again, aided by another bout of buying interest before closing up 41 points or 0.67% at 6,188.

Most sectors, barring property trusts, telecom and utility stocks, advanced in the session. Energy and consumer staple stocks were the strongest advancers in the session.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto gained. In the banking space, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ rose, while Commonwealth Bank receded. Media stocks News Corp and Seven Network gained, while John Fairfax and PBL declined. Retailers Woolworths, Harvey Norman and David Jones gained.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gap-opened higher and advanced solidly throughout the session before closing up 445.04 points or 1.96% at 23,185. Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings rallied 2.12% in reaction to its strong results. Other bank stocks also capitalized on the optimism. Property and China related shares also rallied. FIH, Cathay Air Pacific and New World Development were the decliners in the session, while Hong Kong Electric and CLP Holdings ended unchanged.

South Korea’s Kospi opened modestly higher, but saw some fleeting weakness in early trading. Thereafter, the index rose strongly to close up 26.56 points or 1.39% at 1,933. Shipping companies were in the spotlight, as they were lapped up on hopes of strong earnings momentum on the back of an expanding global economy. Construction stocks rebounded on profit taking.

India’s Sensex spent most of the session above the unchanged line before closing up 290.08 points or 1.90% at 15,551. Capital good, consumer durable, FMCG, realty, metal and public sector unit stocks revealed strong buying interest. (RTTNews)