Business

Nikkei up but Asia shares mostly lower, digesting China data

14 of November 2017

A man rides a bicycle past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday as markets watched for tax reform developments in the U.S. and digested economic data from China. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko),A man rides a bicycle past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday as markets watched for tax reform developments in the U.S. and digested economic data from China. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Asian shares are trading mostly lower as markets watch for tax reform developments in the U.S. and digested economic data from China. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier gains to end the morning session up 0.2 percent. But Australia's S&P/ASX, South Korea's Kospi and the Shanghai Composite all fell. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was virtually unchanged.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday as markets watched for tax reform developments in the U.S. and digested economic data from China.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped earlier gains to end the morning session at 22,441.24, up 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9 percent to 5,967.50. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.2 percent to 2,524.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed at 29,180.64, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3 percent to 3,436.93.

WALL STREET: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.1 percent to 2,584.84. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 percent to 23,439.70. The Nasdaq composite 0.1 percent to 6,757.60, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks was virtually unchanged at 1,475.07. More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

CHINA WATCH: China’s industrial value-added output expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year in October, slowing from 6.6-percent growth in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. China’s private fixed-asset investment increased 5.8 percent on year in the first 10 months of this year, lower than the 6-percent increase for the first nine months. The Chinese economy is still growing but the focus is on assessing whether that pace is slowing.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “The lethargic start to the week has offered few clues, and with all the second-guessing going on surrounding the events in Washington, investors continue to reduce rather than add to exposures,” Stephen Innes of OANDA said in a commentary.

U.S. TAXES: Whether the U.S. tax overhaul legislation will pass is also being closely watched. It would deeply cut corporate taxes, double the standard deduction used by most Americans, and limit or repeal completely the federal deduction for state and local property, income and sales taxes. It carries high political stakes for President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 12 cents to $56.64 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 2 cents to $56.76 on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slipped 21 cents to $62.95 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.62 yen from 113.30 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1672 from $1.1656.

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AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report.

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama can be reached at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama