Asia drifts to lower close
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South Korea's Samsung Electronics ended steady on Tuesday.
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SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Asian stocks have drifted to a lower close Tuesday in the absence of Japan trade. South Korea gave up early gains.
Japan's market was closed for a national holiday to mark Emperor Akihito's birthday, but will re-open Wednesday.
Australia dipped just into the red. Hong Kong was flat, down 0.03 percent. Singapore is 0.3 percent lower heading towards the close.
New Zealand posted the day's best performance, up about 0.4 percent. Taiwan also closed higher, up 0.18 percent.
In Seoul, the Kospi finished 0.33 percent lower to 801.88 after going as high as 812.75 earlier in the day. Leading exporter Hyundai Motor rose 2 percent at the open, but finished down 1.33 percent to 48,250 won.
Samsung Electronics was steady at 442,000 won, while SK Telecom ended almost 2 percent ahead to 208,000 won. Big bank Shinhan Financial Group gave up early gains to close unchanged at 18,200 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 ended down 0.02 percent to 3254.8. Telstra and Qantas eased, as did resources giant BHP Billiton, off 0.6 percent to A$11.93.
Media group News Corp. continued to make gains, up 0.68 percent to A$11.92.
Beverages group Foster's was 0.45 percent ahead to A$4.51 after a successful share buyback and a 6 percent lift in its U.S. grape harvest. (Full story)
HHG, the demerged UK arm of AMP, finished its first day of trade at A$0.89. AMP put on 2.2 percent to A$5.05. (Full story)
In New Zealand, the Top 50 ended 0.44 percent ahead to 2417.37, with a 1 percent gain for Telecom NZ.
Taiwan's Taiex closed 0.18 percent ahead to 5845.51. Market heavyweight TSMC was up 0.8 percent to T$62.00 and Formosa Plastic ended steady at T$55.50.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is 0.03 percent down to 12,484.08. Big bank HSBC is steady at HK$121.00, just below its 34-month high of HK$121.50.
Singapore's Straits Times index is down 0.3 percent to 1717.38. SingTel is flat at S$1.91 but leading bank DBS is down 1.37 percent to S$14.40.
The moves in Asia follow a solid performance on Wall Street Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average putting on 0.58 percent to a 19-month high of 10,338.00 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq adding 0.25 percent. (Full story)
On the currency front, the dollar is trading at 107.38 yen late Tuesday in Asia. The euro is at $1.2400 after going as high as $1.2410.
