Tokyo remains cautious but Asian stocks mostly edge higher

The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended 0.07 percent, or 6.81 points, at 9,496.85, while the Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.03 percent.

Concern about the strong yen, which hampers exports, dampened appetite ahead of quarterly earnings reports from Sony, Panasonic and Nintendo on Thursday and from Hitachi and Honda on Friday.

“Market conditions are so fragile that optimistic sentiment quickly recedes, while pessimism is rampant,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

However Yahoo! Japan rose 1.15 percent following a report that it may team up with Google to sidestep an online partnership between part-owner Yahoo! Inc and Microsoft. The reports were later confirmed by the Japanese firm.

Nissan Motor climbed 0.79 percent on hopes of strong April-June earnings due Thursday.

Sydney added 0.25 percent, or 11.3 points, to 4,497.4, with gains led by banks, notably Westpac, after it successfully raised three billion US dollars in debt.

Regional markets “are very much in a 'glass half full' frame of mind at present,” said Mike Jones, currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand.

Hong Kong briefly touched the 21,000 mark but eased back to end 0.64 percent, or 133.48 points, higher at 20,973.39 ahead of a big government land auction and earnings results from Hang Lung Properties — both this week.

Troubled electronics maker Foxconn was down 0.37 percent after announcing that one of its plants in India had suspended production after 250 workers were hospitalized with suspected pesticide-related health problems.

Shanghai dipped 0.51 as investors locked in profits after a six-session winning streak, dealers said.

The index ended down 13.32 points at 2,575.37 amid uncertainty about whether the authorities will ease economic tightening measures, particularly in the property market, after data this month showed a slowdown in growth.

Earlier, the Dow jumped 0.97 percent to a two-month high, boosted by a surge in new home sales and robust corporate earnings, although sceptics took the homes data with a pinch of salt, noting it was off rock-bottom levels.

The Commerce Department said new home sales had increased 23.6 percent to 330,000 units from a revised May rate of 267,000, a record low.

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