SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Asian stocks were mostly higher in range-bound trade on Tuesday after Wall Street closed mixed, while Asian tech shares mirrored losses in U.S. peers overnight.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent to 20,225.09 while South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 2,391.95. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.1 percent lower to 25,852.77. China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.2 percent to 3,191.20. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1 percent to 5,714.20. Stocks fell in Taiwan were lower but gained in Singapore and the Philippines.
ANALYST'S TAKE: "Heading into the half-way mark for 2017, the absence of tier-one data releases or a coherent theme in markets is hard to ignore. On the whole, a fading external demand boost from earlier in the year may be gaining some attention," Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.
TECH SLIDE: Some Asian tech shares tracked the sector's losses on Wall Street overnight. Tech stocks were among the biggest decliners Monday, reflecting indecisiveness over the sector, said Jingyi Pan of IG. LG Electronics Inc. fell 3.3 percent while SoftBank Group declined 0.1 percent and Sharp Corp. dropped 0.5 percent.
WALL STREET: Wall Street closed mostly higher Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was nearly flat at 2,439.07. The Dow gained 0.1 percent to 21,409.55 while the Nasdaq composite index slid 0.3 percent to 6,247.15.
CENTRAL BANKERS: Investors will pay attention to upcoming remarks by central bankers around the world but do not expect major revelations on monetary policies. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, is scheduled to speak at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal, later in the day. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak in London.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 23 cents to $43.61 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 37 cents, or 0.9 percent, to settle at $43.38 a barrel on Monday. Brent, the international standard, gained 40 cents to $46.44 per barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.48 yen from 111.84 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1219 from $1.1185.