TOKYO
Japanese share prices fell 0.22 per cent in morning trade on Tuesday as a stronger yen weighed on exporters, offsetting a positive lead from Wall Street, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 20.94 points to 9,659.93 by the lunch break. The broader Topix index of all first section shares shed 2.20 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 910.22.

KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian shares were flat on Tuesday due to mild profit-taking, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 0.53 points, or 0.05 per cent, to close at 1,066.36 with a volume of 586.24 million shares worth 752.77 million ringgit.

There were 281 gainers, 241 losers and 218 traded unchanged.

'Generally, investors stayed on the sidelines in the absence of any leads and opted to take profit on any rallies,' a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

'Mild buying interest in banks, select heavyweights and some blue chips by local funds helped to reverse earlier losses,' the dealer said.

Among gainers, communications satellite company Measat rose 6.9 per cent to 1.85 ringgit while Public Bank climbed 1.1 per cent to 9.20 ringgit.

On the downside, Berjaya Sports Toto slid 1.4 per cent to 4.98 ringgit as Bumiputra-Commerce fell 2.6 per cent to 9.25 ringgit.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong shares dropped 0.7 per cent in shrinking turnover on Tuesday as investors worried about interim corporte earnings and the sustainability of a global economic recovery following a four-month rally by the market.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 117.14 points to 17,862.27 shedding gains made earlier in the day, and as the Shanghai stocks pulled back 1.1 per cent.

Turnover languished at HK$50.7 billion compared with Monday's HK$54.2 billion.

The China Enterprises Index, which represents top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks, fell 1.4 per cent to 10,674.67.

SHANGHAI
Chinese stocks slipped 1.13 per cent on Tuesday, snapping a four-day rally on profit-taking, with property and bank shares dropping after a regulator warned of lending risks while coal and oil refiner shares were hit by lower oil prices.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,089.450 points after hitting a new 13-month intraday high of 3,130.067, posting the biggest daily percentage drop in more than 3 weeks.

But gaining Shanghai A shares outnumbered losers by 485 to 437, while turnover for Shanghai A shares dropped to 187.6 billion yuan (S$40 billion) from Monday?s 21-month high of 203.3 billion yuan. -- AFP, BERNAMA, THOMSON REUTERS