Asia shares mixed

Asian stocks were mixed in afternoon trade on Monday despite Friday’s record highs on Wall Street, as fears mounted that the Ukraine crisis could tip over into civil war. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index lost 0.35 per cent, or 50.07 points, to close at 14,149.52 as investors awaited the release of key Japanese and US data later in the week, including US retail sales and housing starts. ‘This will be a week when investors will assess the US economic outlook after the impact of the polar vortex (cold weather) has rounded off,’ SMBC Nikko Securities said in a note to clients. Seoul closed 0.43% higher, gaining 8.39 points to 1,964.94, while Sydney eased 0.23%, or 12.44 points, to 5,448.4 ahead of the release of the national budget on Tuesday. Chinese stocks were sharply higher in afternoon trade after the government outlined moves to develop the country’s capital markets, dealers said. Hong Kong was up 2.18% by mid-afternoon, while Shanghai jumped 1.94%. China’s State Council, or cabinet, late on Friday issued guidelines to promote development of the stock, bond and futures markets, including expanding the scale of foreign investment in the capital markets. ‘The guidelines boosted investor confidence,’ Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi said. But he added gains could be capped by worries over upcoming initial public offerings, according to AFP.