Beijing, China (BBN)-Shares in Asia were mixed on Tuesday after a day of declines on Monday with investor confidence hit by fears of an earlier than expected US rate rise.
In China, investor sentiment was down despite official figures showing China’s core inflation rate rising to 1.4% in February, reports BBC.
China’s new consumer inflation target is about 3%, down from 3.5% in 2014.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.38% points, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.65% at 3,280.95.
The consumer price inflation (CPI) data exceeded most expectations and compared with a rise of 0.8% in January, which was the weakest reading since November 2009.
The rise in inflation for the period was attributed by officials to China’s Lunar New Year celebrations.
Earlier this month, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said the government would have a consumer inflation target of about 3%, down from 3.5% in 2014.
ELSEWHERE IN ASIA
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.40% at 18,865.67 points.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.43%% at 5,846.30.
The Australian index on Monday recorded its biggest fall since the first week of January.
Japanese shares had also closed lower on Monday as revised growth data showed that the economy grew less than initially forecast in the fourth quarter.
Analysts said they expected Australian stocks to recover some losses on Tuesday despite a monthly survey of 400 firms showing business confidence had dropped three points to zero in February.
The survey is conducted by one of the nation’s biggest lenders, National Australia Bank (NAB).
The February reading was its lowest since late 2013.
The bank’s chief economist Alan Oster said confidence had fallen “across all industries except manufacturing and wholesale, suggesting common factors such as political and broader economic uncertainty may be at play- perhaps the rate cut acted as a stark reminder of the significant headwinds facing the economy.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia left rates at a record low of 2.25% earlier this month, after cutting them in February partly to help boost sentiment within the business community.
“We still see another rate cut in coming months – most likely May,” Mr Oster said.
In South Korea, The Kospi index reversed earlier gains on Tuesday morning and was down 0.31% mid morning 1,986.61 after its sharpest daily fall in nearly two months on Monday.
BBN/SK/AD-10Mar15-10:10am (BST)
