HONG KONG, Feb 3: Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday as dealers gave a cool reaction to a new stimulus plan in Australia and a promise by Japan to buy shares to help banks.

Canberra unveiled a 42 billion Australian dollar (26 billion US) package that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said was aimed at supporting jobs in the face of the unfolding national and international economic emergency.

The central Reserve Bank of Australia later cut interest rates by 100 basis points to a 45-year low of 3.25 per cent.

And the Bank of Japan said it would spend up to one trillion yen ($11.2 billion ) to buy shares held by commercial banks to ease credit flows.

Japan’s Nikkei rose initially on the BoJ move before falling back and closing 0.62 per cent lower and Hong Kong lost 0.7 per cent, while Sydney edged up 0.3 per cent and Seoul added 1.4 percent.

TOKYO: Down 0.62 per cent. The Nikkei lost 48.47 points to end at 7,825.51.

Although investors already anticipated the share-buy move, the timing of the announcement was a surprise, said Kazuhito Takahashi, equity information chief at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

After the closing bell, the electronics giant announced a $4.1-billion quarterly loss while maintaining its forecast of the huge loss for the full year.

HONG KONG: Down 0.7 per cent. The Hang Seng Index closed down 84.60 points at 12,776.89.

The market was weighed by selling of property stocks following reports of a rising number of mortgages in negative equity, dealers said.

Cheung Kong fell 6.1 percent to 66.20 dollars and Sun Hung Kai Properties dropped 4.86 per cent to $64.65 .

SYDNEY: Up 0.3 per cent. The S&P/ASX200 was 11.3 points higher at 3,508.7.

Stocks retreated sharply following the stimulus news, down from a bullish 2.1 per cent lead at noon, said IG Markets analyst Ben Potter.

Since the stimulus and rate cuts were announced, stocks sold off significantly, losing more than one percent as traders bought the rumour and sold the fact, Potter said.

SINGAPORE: Up 0.39 per cent. The STI rose 6.63 points to 1,711.92.

Bank shares closed mixed, with United Overseas Bank gaining eight cents to 11.62 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp easing two cents to 4.98.

Among property shares, City Developments was unchanged at 5.51.

Singapore Airlines closed two cents higher at 11.06.

KUALA LUMPUR: Down 0.5 per cent. The KLCI dropped 4.78 points to close at 879.67.Dealers stayed away due to a lack of leads.

Tenaga dropped 3.4 points to 5.70 ringgit, TMI slid 5.0 per cent to 3.02 and Sime Darby fell 1.8 per cent at 5.40. MMC Corp rose 5.3 per cent to 1.40.

JAKARTA: Down 0.5 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 6.31 points to 1,304.33.Telkom fell 2.5 per cent to 5,850 rupiah and Astra Agro dropped 1.4 per cent to 10,700 while Antam fell 0.9 per cent to 1,070. Bank Rakyat Indonesia rose 1.2 percent to 4,400.

MUMBAI: Up 0.91 per cent. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 82.6 points to 9,149.3.

WELLINGTON: Up 0.32 per cent. The NZX-50 index gained 8.79 points to 2,780.3. Trade was quiet as investors said they had little to inspire them to buy or sell.—AFP