Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday, with investor attention solely focused on Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony to Congress and the release of the Fed's May minutes due this Wednesday for cues on the outlook for interest rates. The U.S. dollar edged higher after weakening against major currencies the day before following Moody's report warning of a possible U.S. debt downgrade if Congress and the White House fail to act on the government's budget problems in 2013.
Despite growing speculation about Fed's exit from QE, many analysts expect Bernanke to say that he is still cautious about the recovery and the Fed would stick with its asset-buying program.
Japan's Nikkei index rebounded from losses to end up 0.1 percent at its highest level in five years and five months after economy minister Akira Amari clarified his earlier remarks about the yen's drop, saying he expects the currency levels to stabilize at a point matching the basic strength of Japanese economy. Investors bought back exporters, buoyed by the dollar's rebound against the yen ahead of a Bank of Japan meeting.
TDK rose 3.4 percent, Fujitsu rallied 7.9 percent and Sharp soared 8.7 percent. Steelmakers extended the previous session's rally after Mizuho Securities upgraded the sector to "overweight" from "underweight". JFE Holdings jumped 8 percent, while shares of Kobe Steel soared 19 percent. Tokio Marine Holdings rose 1.3 percent after the insurer gave a brighter profit look for the current business year through March 2014. Mitsubishi Motors soared 34 percent on news that it has started producing minivehicles developed in a joint venture with Nissan Motor.
China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2 percent, with property developers leading the gainers amid expectations that a high-level meeting in Beijing to support the urbanization process in the coming weeks will support housing prices.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid half a percent on profit taking after the benchmark index hit a 3-1/2-month high on Monday. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 2.1 percent after Goldman Sachs sold its remaining stake in the lender to raise about $1.1 billion.
Australian shares ended firmly in the red, dragged down by major banks on valuation concerns even as the RBA minutes indicated the central bank retains an easing bias. Both the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 and the broader All Ordinaries index fell about 0.6 percent each. NAB, Westpac, Commonwealth and ANZ ended down between 0.8 percent and 2 percent.
Shares of Transfield Services slumped 24 percent to a record low after the engineering firm cut its profit forecast for the second time this year and announced job cuts to cope with slowing resources spending. Global miners turned in a mixed performance, with Rio Tinto losing 0.2 percent, while BHP Billiton edged up 0.1 percent.
Minutes from the RBA's May 8 meeting revealed that members of the monetary policy board were more dovish than before. An extended forecast for low inflation, somewhat mixed global data and subdued business conditions domestically strengthened the case for a 25 basis points rate cut in order to spur economic growth, the minutes showed. Members seem to believe that the earlier reductions in interest rates were still working through the economy.
Seoul shares ended almost flat amid a lack of fresh triggers. The benchmark Kospi average slipped 1 point or 0.1 percent to 1,981, erasing early gains on institutional selling.
New Zealand shares lost ground on concerns the market has run up ahead of earnings growth. The benchmark NZX-50 index slipped 0.2 percent to 4,591. Transport group Mainfreight lost 2 percent on concerns about tepid growth in Australia after Australian firms including Transfield and WorleyParsons cut their profit guidance.
In economic news, New Zealand's credit card spending increased in April, recovering from a decline in the previous month, the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed. Card spending rose 0.4 percent month-over-month in April following a 0.3 percent fall in the preceding month. Spending rose 4 percent from a year earlier.
Elsewhere, Malaysia's KLSE Composite rose 0.6 percent and the Taiwan Weighted average edged up marginally, while the markets in Singapore, India and Indonesia were subdued.
The major U.S. averages slipped about 0.1 percent each in thin trading overnight as traders were reluctant to make any significant moves amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.