Asian stocks up despite Wall Street anxiety

BANGKOK — Asian shares rose slightly Tuesday as skittish investors came back to the market despite a drop on Wall Street triggered by anxieties over Europe's economy. Oil rose past $75 per barrel, while key indexes in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia rose tepidly. The dollar weakened against the yen and the euro slipped slightly against the greenback. The Nikkei 225 stock average was up 0.3 percent, or 28.97 points, to 9,908.85. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to 4,512.3 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4 percent to 20,129.24. Elsewhere, Singapore's market rose 0.3 percent. Taiwan's benchmark was 1.4 percent higher. Stock indexes in India and Thailand were down by just a fraction of a percent. Financial markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday. In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average erased early gains to end down 0.2 percent at 10,190.89. The S&P 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,089.63, while the Nasdaq composite index rose less than 0.1 percent 2,243.96. Stocks began higher following encouraging industrial production data from Europe. But that wasn't enough to overcome ongoing fears about the continent's problems, especially after Moody's lowered its rating on Greece's debt to "junk" status. The fallout in Asia was mild, however, with most benchmarks showing a small amount of buoyancy ahead of US industrial production numbers due Wednesday. "Overseas markets have regained some of their nerve," said Howard Gorges, vice chairman of South China Brokerage in Hong Kong. "People will still be wary because of what goes on in Greece or Spain, but there's been so much adverse news that markets are ignoring quite a lot of it." While the euro has risen since hitting a four-year low earlier in June, it has dropped more than 15 percent this year and a strong rebound isn't expected in the near-term. Analysts also said traders remained a bit on edge, and markets could stay choppy. "It is a seesaw situation," said Castor Pang, director of research at Cinda International in Hong Kong. "Most investors are still cautious." In currencies, the dollar slipped to 91.50 yen from 91.58 yen late Monday in New York. The euro dipped to $1.2206 from $1.2210. Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 9 cents to $75.21 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.34 to settle at $75.12 on Monday. —AP