HONG KONG, Feb 10: Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday with some traders awaiting the passage of a stimulus package in the United States, while China announced inflation was heading lower.

Shanghai added 1.82 per cent to a five-month high, with Hong Kong following suit to add 0.8 per cent, a fifth straight day of rises.

China’s consumer price index the main gauge of inflation, slowed to 1.0 per cent in January, from 1.2 per cent in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Taipei was helped by gains in Shanghai as well as interest in electronics stocks, but Seoul lost 0.3 per cent as the country’s finance minister warned the economy would likely shrink two per cent this year.

TOKYO: Down 0.29 per cent. The Nikkei-225 fell 23.09 points to end at 7,945.94.

Investors remained quiet ahead of a public holiday on Wednesday and as they awaited news of the fate of a huge economic stimulus package and a financial recovery plan in the United States.

Shipping shares fell as investors took profit. Nippon Yusen slipped 3.2 per cent to 490 yen.

Nippon Steel lost 1.8 per cent to 276 yen.

HONG KONG: Up 0.8 per cent. The Hang Seng Index ended up 111.58 points at 13,880.64.

Ping An Insurance ended 1.5 per cent higher at $38.00 .

Oil company CNOOC rose 2.6 per cent to 7.55 dollars and PetroChina gained 3.0 percent to 6.60 on higher oil prices.

SYDNEY: Down 0.57 per cent. The S&P/ASX200 index was down 19.9 points at 3,488.7.The market was dragged as weak profit results undermined investor confidence, dealers said.

One analyst said: There is concern that we’ve seen so many capital raisings, which has really shocked the market. Rio Tinto fell 44 cents to $48.96 and BHP Billiton edged up one cent to $33.35 .

SINGAPORE: Up 1.25 per cent. The STI added 20.95 points to 1,703.29. The market moved higher but lacked catalysts for a bigger rally.

CapitaLand ended 27 cents higher at 2.63.Singapore Telecommunications rose five cents to 2.48.

Singapore Airlines closed four cents higher at 10.44 before announcing net profit fell an annual 42.8 per cent in the third quarter to December.

KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.8 per cent. The KLCI gained 6.88 points to close at 903.52.

All eyes will be on the American economic stimulus and bank bailout plans, a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

IOI Corp rose 2.6 per cent to 3.94 ringgit as BAT slid 1.7 per cent to 44.25 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Down 0.8 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 10.1 points to 1,332.13.The sell-off in banking stocks on expectations many of them will report increases in bad loans drove the main index down, a trader said.

MUMBAI: Up 0.66 per cent. The Sensex rose 63.58 points to 9,647.47, its third straight day of gains.

It rose on hopes of a possible interest rate cut to revive domestic growth.

WELLINGTON: Down 0.60 per cent. The benchmark NZX-50 dropped 16.51 points to 2,750.05.There was further weakness in market leader Telecom ahead of the reporting season. Telecom, which accounted for half the turnover, closed six cents down at $2.63.—AFP