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Hong Kong - Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, the first day's trading for some markets after the Easter break, even though Wall Street provided another strong lead.
The dollar eased slightly against the yen after rallying on Monday in response to Japan's announcement of another massive trade deficit.
Tokyo gave up early gains as the yen reversed course against the dollar, with the Nikkei ending 0.85% lower, giving up 123.61 points to finish at 14 388.77. Hong Kong ended down 0.13% at 22 730.68 points.
Shanghai closed up 0.34% at 2 072.83, Sydney gained 0.46% to 5 479.3, and Seoul added 0.25% to 2 004.22.
Business remained thin as traders returned from the long weekend. Markets in Sydney and Wellington will also be closed on Friday for Anzac Day.
US shares jumped for a fifth straight session on Monday thanks to solid earnings reports from firms including Halliburton and Hasbro. Attention is now on earnings reports expected this week from top firms including McDonald's, United Technologies and AT&T.
The Dow gained 0.25%, the S&P 500 rose 0.38% and the Nasdaq added 0.645%.
Wall Street's advances follow a torrid week earlier this month when tech players such as Twitter and Facebook were sold off on fears they were overvalued. Those companies have now clawed back much of their losses.
In Japan the earnings season gets under way next week with the release of reports from big names including Honda, Panasonic and Japan Airlines.
On currency markets the dollar was at ¥102.50 compared to ¥102.62 late in New York.
The Japanese unit dipped on Monday after the government said its trade deficit in March quadrupled year-on-year to $14bn owing to the rising cost of importing fossil fuels and consumers rushing to buy before the April 1 sales tax hike.
The euro bought ¥141.47 and $1.3800 against ¥141.58 and $1.3794.
Oil prices were lower. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for May delivery, was down $1.06 at $103.31 a barrel in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for June declined 24 cents to $109.71.
Gold fetched $1 291.73 an ounce at 12:45 compared with $1 287.37 on Monday.
