Japan, Korea lead Asian declines
(CNN) -- Japanese and South Korean stocks led Asia to a mainly lower close Tuesday, with the high price of oil continuing to weigh on the region's growth outlook.
Seoul's Kospi, which on Monday posted the region's biggest rise of about 1.7 percent, gave back all those gains and more, falling 1.95 percent.
Heavyweight Korean stocks Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor fell sharply.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average finished the day down 1.25 percent to 10,962.93.
The broader Topix index closed down 1.35 percent to 1115.66 as big banks tumbled.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand were all in the red, but Taiwan posted a slight gain of 0.27 percent.
Taiwan's market slipped Monday after China repeated threats to do whatever was necessary to reunify what it regards as a renegade province. (Full story)
Asian markets continued to respond to oil prices and the impact of a number of oil-related announcements at the weekend. (Oil near record high)
Finance ministers at a meeting of the Group of Seven leading economies in New York called on Sunday for increased oil output to help maintain the fast pace of economic growth. (Full story)
In Tokyo, big banks closed in the red after Monday's big gains ahead of earnings. MTFG and Mizuho posted the best profits in those announcements. (Full story)
MTFG finished the day down 4 percent to 925,000 yen, Mizuho was 3.1 percent lower to 466,000 yen and UFJ was off 3.76 percent to 589,000 yen.
Tech-related stocks were mainly weaker. Matsuhita Electric was down about 2.6 percent, while NEC, Sharp and Sanyo were all about 2 percent weaker. Toshiba and Fujitsu were also in the red.
Kyocera was up 0.57 percent to 8860 yen and consumer electronics heavyweight Sony ended 0.26 percent ahead to 3930 yen.
Softbank rose 1.7 percent after it confirmed it was talking to Ripplewood about a stake in Japan Telecom. (Full story)
Leading carmaker Toyota was down 1 percent to 3850 yen. Mitsubishi Motors, which fell 6.2 percent to 225 yen Monday after Friday's $4 billion restructuring proposal, was down another 1.3 percent. (Full story)
South Korea lower
In Seoul, the Kospi tumbled 1.95 percent to 784.06.
Hyundai Motor, which jumped 4.3 percent Monday, ended down 3 percent to 44,500 won. Samsung Electronics was down 3.7 percent to 492,000 won.
Shinhan financial group lost 2.7 percent to 17,850 won.
In Taiwan, the Taiex closed up 0.27 percent to 5958.38. The market's biggest stock TSMC was up 0.9 percent to T$54.50 and smaller rival UMC rose 0.74 percent to T$27.30.
In Australia the S&P/ASX200 was flat, down just 0.18 percent to 3395.5, but New Zealand's Top 50 was down 0.89 percent to 2575.89.
Qantas Airways, which began flights Tuesday of its discount offshoot Jetstar, was down 2 percent to A$3.34. Rival Virgin Blue continued to decline, falling another 0.5 percent to a record closing low of A$1.92. (Full story)
In Singapore, the Straits Times index is down 0.54 percent to 1770.39. Singapore Airlines is down 1.9 percent to S$10.40.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is 0.25 percent lower to 11,634.30. HSBC is steady at HK$111.00.
The moves in Asia followed a mixed close on Wall Street Monday, with the Nasdaq up 0.57 percent but the Dow ending 0.08 percent in the red. (Full story)
