CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday amid worries that too much stimulus will spark excessive inflation and hurt high-growth companies reliant on easy borrowing.
Chinese stocks slumped amid signs that top financial regulators will take more action to curb debt levels and prevent asset bubbles from forming.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index lost 62.12 points, or 1.82 percent, to finish at 3,359.29 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up 0.81 percent to 28,773.23.
Japanese shares rose sharply as the yen retreated after the release of weak GDP and household spending data. The Nikkei average rallied 284.69 points, or 0.99 percent, to 29,027.94, while the broader Topix index closed 1.27 percent higher at 1,917.68.
Heavyweight SoftBank Group climbed 3.2 percent and automakers Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Nissan jumped 3-4 percent while tech stocks followed their U.S. peers lower. Advantest and Screen Holdings fell about 2 percent.
Japan's GDP climbed an annualized 11.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, the Cabinet Office said - missing expectations for an increase of 12.8 percent following the 22.9 percent surge in the three months prior.
On a quarterly basis, GDP gained 2.8 percent - again missing forecasts for 3.0 percent and down from 5.3 percent in the previous three months.
Another report showed the average of household spending in Japan was down 6.1 percent year-on-year in January - missing expectations for a decline of 2.1 percent following the 0.6 percent contraction in December. On a monthly basis, household spending was down 7.3 percent.
Australian markets gained ground amid hopes for faster economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Sentiment was also boosted after a prominent survey showed business confidence rose to decade highs in February.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 31.60 points, or 0.47 percent, to 6,771.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 28.80 points, or 0.41 percent, at 7,000.40.
The big four banks rose between 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent. AMP rallied 2.5 percent after the wealth manager decided to sell the global equities business of its asset management arm to Canadian investment manager Fiera Capital for an undisclosed sum. Perpetual jumped 3.6 percent and Macquarie Group added 2.4 percent.
Tech stocks suffered heavy losses, with Afterpay tumbling 3.6 percent and Xero losing 3.8 percent. Gold miners Evolution Mining and Newcrest fell over 1 percent as gold prices hovered near nine-month lows.
Fibre network owner Vocus Group surged 8.6 percent after it agreed to a scheme implementation deed with Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and pension fund Aware Super.
Seoul stocks ended lower for the fourth day running amid growing concerns over post-pandemic inflation. The Kospi average dropped 19.99 points, or 0.67 percent, to 2,976.12 amid massive foreign selling as bond yields in the region scaled new peaks. Naver, Samsung SDI and LG Chem gave up 2-3 percent.
South Korea posted a current account surplus of $7.06 billion in January, the Bank of Korea said in a report - down from $11.51 billion in December. The goods account surplus widened to $5.73 billion, compared to $2.07 billion in January 2020.
New Zealand shares eked out modest gains after the government said it has signed an advance purchase agreement for 8.5 million additional doses of Covid-vaccine, enough to vaccinate 4.25 million people. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 59.97 points, or half a percent, to 12,145.15.
U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as passage of the stimulus bill contributed to an increase in treasury yields for the fourth consecutive session, prompting traders to rotate out of high-flying tech stocks into cyclicals.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a fresh record intraday high before ending 1 percent higher while the S&P 500 shed half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled as much as 2.4 percent to reach its lowest closing level in almost three months.
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