Asia rebounds to head higher
(CNN) -- Asian stocks are slightly higher in choppy trade at midday Tuesday, following falls in U.S. and European markets and another day of record highs for oil prices.
European shares closed at lows for the year on caution ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision Tuesday.
After Monday's declines in Asia, there are small gains Tuesday for Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and New Zealand.
Singapore is down about 0.8 percent after a holiday Monday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 has finished the morning session up 0.26 percent to 10,939.99.
The broader Topix is 0.27 percent ahead to 1104.51.
The dollar is up slightly against the Japanese yen, trading at 110.47 yen in Tokyo near midday.
After Monday's falls, Tokyo stocks are posting modest gains as wary investors weigh rising oil prices and the impending Fed decision on interest rates in the United States. U.S. oil futures hit $44.99 in after-hours trading.(Full story)
Big banks are leading the way, with a rise of 5.2 percent to 465,000 yen for UFJ as it mulls rival merger offers from MTFG and SMFG. (Full story)
SMFG is up 2.5 percent to 642,000 yen and MTFG is 3 percent higher to 956,000 yen. Mizuho, the fourth member of Japan's megabanks, is 2.9 percent higher to 426,000 yen. It is not involved in the merger scramble.
Big exporters such as Sony and Canon are again in the red. But after big falls Monday, Kyocera, Toshiba and Fujitsu are heading higher. Yahoo Japan is up 6.7 percent to 921,000 yen after Google settled a stock deal with Yahoo in the United States. (Full story)
Among automakers, Nissan is down 2 percent to 1146 yen and Honda is about 0.4 percent lower. Toyota is off 0.7 percent to 4150 yen. NTT DoCoMo, another market heavyweight, is 0.5 percent lower to 187,000 yen.
In South Korea, the Kospi is up 0.31 percent to 744.41. Samsung Electronics is just in the black, up 0.12 percent to 419,500 won. Leading exporter Hyundai Motor is down 0.4 percent to 45,850 won after a 2 percent gain Monday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is up 0.07 percent to 3511.8. News Corp is again down, off almost 1 percent to A$11.35 on caution about its proposed relocation to the United States.
Big resources stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are also in the red, with falls of around 0.5 percent.
New Zealand's Top 50 is up 0.1 percent to 2759.6 after setting a record high last week. Telecom NZ is steady at NZ$6.06.
In Taiwan, the Taiex is about 0.5 percent higher to 5427.95.
Wall Street ended flat Monday, just in the red, to extend last week's falls. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.01 percent to 9814.66, while the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.13 percent to 1774.64. (Full story)
