Asian Shares Mixed Amid China Worries

Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with Japanese shares leading regional gains ahead of the October 31 lower house election, while fresh worries about China’s property sector hit Hong Kong and mainland markets.

Chinese shares ended lower, with property developers coming under selling pressure after Modern Land missed a bond payment, adding to worries about wider effects of the debt crisis at behemoth China Evergrande Group.

Worries over a planned pilot real estate tax scheme also dented sentiment. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slipped 12.22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,597.64, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended down 93.76 points, or 0.4 percent, at 26,038.27.

Japanese shares rallied after earnings optimism took the Dow and S&P 500 to record highs overnight. Investors were also reacting to the results of a poll suggesting that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is likely to keep substantially more than half the seats in parliament in this weekend’s general election.

The Nikkei 225 Index surged 505.60 points, or 1.8 percent, to 29,106.01, while the broader Topix closed 1.2 percent higher at 2,018.40.

Heavyweights Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group jumped 5 percent and 1.8 percent respectively. Sony Group advanced 2.6 percent ahead of its earnings release due Thursday.

Panasonic soared 5.6 percent after the company unveiled a prototype battery to help key customer Tesla lower costs.

Australian shares gave up early gains to end on a flat note as gains in tech stocks were offset by declines among commodity-related stocks.

Newcrest Mining, Evolution and Northern Star Resources fell 1-2 percent, tracking lower gold prices after an uptick in the U.S. dollar and bond yields. Regis Resources slumped 6.1 percent after its September quarter gold production and sales missed analysts’ estimates.

Energy companies Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy dropped 1-2 percent, while mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto ended on a mixed note. Tech stocks bucked the weak trend, with buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay climbing 3.3 percent.

Seoul stocks rose for the second straight day amid expectations of strong corporate earnings. The benchmark Kospi jumped 28.54 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 3,049.08.

Bio, bank and tech shares topped the gainers list. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.3 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix added 2 percent. Top lender Kakao Bank jumped 3.3 percent.

Investors shrugged off central bank data showing that South Korea’s economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter, as robust exports were offset by weak domestic demand and construction and facility investments.

New Zealand shares ended slightly lower, with the benchmark NZX-50 Index closing down 17.83 points, or 0.1 percent, at 13,075.41, dragged down by consumer and healthcare stocks.

U.S. stocks advanced overnight as Tesla shares surged on a huge rental order of 100,000 cars and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence that congressional Democrats are near a deal on a large spending package.

The Dow edged up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added half a percent to reach new record closing highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent.

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