Tokyo, Japan (BBN)-Shares in Asia were mixed on Tuesday despite a near 7 per cent rise in oil prices overnight and a rally on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 in early trade, but was later up just 0.25 per cent to 16,154 points, reports BBC.
In Australia, the ASX 200 was down 0.35 per cent to 4,984 points as some of the country’s big lenders weighed on the index.
Qantas shares fell more than 4 per cent despite posting its best first half-year profit in its 95-year history.
Evan Lucas, an IG Markets analyst, said Qantas’ share slide on Tuesday was partly due to the overnight rise in oil prices.
Mining giant BHP Billiton also posted results on Tuesday.
For the six months to December, it reported a huge half-year net loss of $5.67bn (£4bn) and warned that weak commodity prices will continue.
However, its Sydney-listed shares were up 2.4 per cent due in part to a rise in the price of iron ore.
In China, shares were divided. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was flat at 19,466 points, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5 per cent to 2,912 points.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index was down just 0.2 per cent to 1,913 points.
BBN/SK/AD
