Asian Shares Mixed Ahead Of US Debate

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as investors pinned hopes on a new U.S. coronavirus relief bill and looked ahead to the first U.S. presidential debate between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, set to take place later today.

Chinese shares rose modestly, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index ending up 6.82 points, or 0.21 percent, at 3,224.36. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 200.52 points, or 0.85 percent, to 23,275.53.

Japanese shares recovered from an early slide to end marginally higher ahead of the Trump-Biden presidential debate. The Nikkei average edged up 27.48 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 23,539.10, a seven-month high. However, the broader Topix index slipped 3.83 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,658.10.

Telecom major NTT lost 2.9 percent on news it is preparing for a takeover of its mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo. Shares of the latter surged 15.8 percent while rival mobile carrier KDDI Corp fell 4.1 percent. Electronics maker Keyence Corp advanced 3.7 percent.

In economic news, a government report showed that overall consumer prices in the Tokyo area were up 0.2 percent year-on-year in September. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading.

Australian markets hit a three-week high in early trade before reversing direction to end the day little changed.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended virtually unchanged at 5,952.10 as Melbourne entered the second step of its coronavirus roadmap. The broader All Ordinaries index edged up 6.60 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 6,141.50.

Qantas Airways climbed 2.2 percent as the government extended a Covid-19 relief package for domestic airlines by four months.

Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search gained 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively after crude oil prices rose overnight. In the tech sector, Afterpay gained 2.5 percent to extend gains for the third day. Appen jumped 3.6 percent and WiseTech Global advanced 3.4 percent.

Bank of Queensland slumped 7.2 percent after it warned investors of major loan impairments.

Seoul stocks extended gains for a third straight session as investors welcomed progress over a U.S. stimulus plan. The benchmark Kospi climbed 19.81 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,327.89. Steelmaker POSCO rose 1 percent, automaker Hyundai Motor added 1.7 percent, chipmaker SK Hynix advanced 1.8 percent and chemical maker LG Chem rallied 4.5 percent.

Industrial output in South Korea fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent month-on-month in August, Statistics Korea said in a report - beating forecasts for a decline of 1.5 percent following the 1.6 percent increase in July.

On a yearly basis, industrial production sank 3.0 percent - missing expectations for a fall of 2.8 percent following the 2.5 percent drop in the previous month.

Another report showed that retail sales were up 3.0 percent on month and 0.3 percent on year in August after sinking 6.0 percent on month and gaining 0.5 percent on year in July.

Also today, the Bank of Korea said that business sentiment improved slightly in September with the corresponding index coming in with a score of 68, up 2 points from the previous month.

New Zealand shares fell, with the benchmark NZX 50 index ending down 60.20 points, or 0.51 percent, at 11,742.09.

A2 Milk shares plunged 4.9 percent to extend losses from the previous session after the dairy producer forecast lower first-half revenue. Airline Air New Zealand rose 1.1 percent after announcing it has tapped into $110 million of a near billion-dollar Government loan over the past month.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as signs that lawmakers are moving toward new fiscal stimulus helped investors shrug off renewed concerns about a surge in coronavirus cases and uncertainty about the presidential election.

The Dow climbed 1.5 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite spiked 1.9 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.6 percent.