HONG KONG -- Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index regaining some of its sharp losses from a day earlier.A quarterly “tankan” survey by the Bank of Japan showed business confidence among large manufacturers remained steady at 13, indicating an improved outlook for business conditions.
A positive number indicates that more companies maintain an optimistic outlook on business conditions than those who feel pessimistic.The survey is closely monitored for clues about the impact of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decisions, especially after the central bank ended negative rates in March and raised its short-term rate to 0.25% in July.Japan also reported that its unemployment rate for August fell to 2.5% from 2.7% in July, in line with market expectations.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rallied 1.5% in early Tuesday to 38,476.33, as the yen weakened.
The dollar is trading at 144.00 yen, up from 143.62 yen.On Monday, the Nikkei tumbled nearly 5% as markets reacted to the selection of Shigeru Ishiba to be Japan's next prime minister.Ishiba was due to take office Tuesday following the resignation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.Ishiba, an expert on defense and on domestic economic issues, was seen as a less favorable choice than some of his rivals in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, partly because he has voiced support for raising interest rates.
That caused the Japanese yen to briefly jump in value against the dollar, which would hurt profits of large export manufacturers.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped nearly 0.7% to 8,214.80 after the data showed that retail sales in August rose 3.1% from the same period last year, which is above expectation.Markets in China and South Korea were shut for holidays.
Mainland Chinese markets, which had their best day since 2008 on Monday, will remain closed until Oct.7 for the National Day break.
On Monday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to reached an all-time high at 5,762.48 and clinched its...