Asian stock markets are turning in a mixed performance on Tuesday with investors reacting to regional economic data, after the European markets closed flat overnight. The U.S. markets were shut overnight for Labor Day holiday.
The mood is a bit cautious in the region, with investors looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy, due later this week.
After opening lower, the Australian market has edged up into positive territory thanks to encouraging reports on trade balance and building approvals.
Energy and telecommunications stocks are edging higher, while stocks from most of the other sectors are turning in a mixed performance.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 5.5 points or 0.1 percent at 5,635.3, after having declined to 5,617.9 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries index is at 5,635.4, up 6.1 points or 0.1 percent from previous close.
Among bank stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac (WBK) and National Australia Bank are down 0.2 to 0.5 percent, while ANZ Bank is up marginally. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is moving up 1.2 percent and Bank of Queensland is up slightly.
Among the top miners, Rio Tinto (RIO), Fortescue Metals and Newcrest Mining are declining 0.4 to 0.8 percent, while BHP Billiton (BHP) is flat.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Caltex Australia and Oil Search are advancing 0.8 to 1.2 percent, while Origin Energy is rising 2.5 percent.
Qantas Airways is rising 3.3 percent. Alumina (AWC) is moving up 2.3 percent. Incitec Pivot, Ramsay Healthcare, Federation Centres, Beach Energy, Telstra Corporation and Coca-Cola Amatil are up 1 to 2 percent.
AGL Energy is lower by nearly 4 percent. The company said it has successfully completed the initial issue of fully-paid ordinary shares following the Entitlement Offer announced on Wednesday, 20 August 2014.
Amcor is down 2.6 percent. Boral, REA Group, Arrium and Crown Resorts are lower by 0.8 to 1.4 percent.
Downer EDI is down marginally. The company announced that it has won a construction contract worth around A$170 million at the Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island.
In economic news, current account deficit in Australia widened less than expected to A$13.74 billion in the second quarter, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. This was more than the A$7.8 billion deficit in the first quarter but was less than the A$ 14 billion deficit expected by economists.
Exports of goods and services dropped 7 percent while imports rose 1 percent in the second quarter.
The decrease in surplus on goods and services is expected to bring down the gross domestic product, or GDP, growth by 0.9 percent, which is more than the 0.7 percent consensus estimate.
According to another report from the bureau, the number of building approvals in Australia increased at a faster-than-expected 9.4 percent, year-over-year, in July. Economists expected approvals to rise 7.8 percent in the month.
Private sector houses approvals climbed 14 percent and approvals for private sector dwelling excluding houses rose 6.3 percent. On a month-over-month basis, building approvals increased 2.5 percent following the 3.8 percent drop in June. This was more than the 1.9 percent consensus estimate.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened slightly weak against the U.S. dollar. The local unit is currently quoting at US$0.9308, down from Monday's close of US$0.9349.
The Japanese stock market surged higher, with a weaker yen triggering some hectic buying at several counters.
Shares of export-oriented companies moved up. Chemical, non-ferrous metals and rubber stocks were among the other notable gainers.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 200.4 points or 1.3 percent at 15,677.0 at the end of the morning session.
TDK Corp. moved up nearly 6.5 percent and NTN Corp. gained 5.2 percent. Ebara Corp., Kubota Corp., Pioneer Corp., J Front Retailing Co., Yokogawa Electric Corp., Taiyo Yuden, Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Olympus Corp. were up 3 to 4 percent at the break.
NSK, Sumitomo Osaka Cement, Tokyo Dome, Toppan Printing, Fuji Electric, Fujikura, JTEKT Corp., Alps Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Yaskawa Electric, Mitsubishi Estate, Unitika, Hino Motors, Fanuc Corp., Sumitomo Chemical, Credit Saison and Trend Micro gained 2 to 3 percent.
Toyota Motor (TM) gained 1.3 percent, following a notable rise in new car sales in August.
Meanwhile, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing declined 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Furukawa, Kajima Corp., MEIJI Holdings, Hitachi Zosen and Kikkoman Corp. also traded weak.
In economic news, total labor cash earnings in Japan grew at a faster rate in July, defying expectations of a slow-down, a report from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed Tuesday.
Total earnings increased 2.6 percent year-over-year in July following the revised 1 percent rise in June. Economists had expected earnings to grow 0.9 percent.
Contractual earnings climbed 0.9 percent, after the 0.4 percent increase in June. Scheduled earnings rose 0.7 percent in July, which was faster than the revised 0.2 percent growth in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 104 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 104.75 to the dollar, against Monday's close of 104.14 yen per dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Singapore and Indonesia are up with modest gains. South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are notably lower, while Malaysia and New Zealand are down slightly.
The U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Labor Day holiday. Major European markets ended flat. While the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.03 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed higher by less than 0.1 percent.
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