Asia shares mixed, Nikkei hit by strong yen

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday with a record close on Wall Street offset by profit-taking, while Japan's Nikkei succumbed to a stronger yen. Tokyo fell 0.59 percent, or 92.03 points, to 15,521.22 and Hong Kong shed 0.37 percent, or 92.41 points, to end at 25,074.50 after hitting a six-year high on Monday. Shanghai sank 0.99 percent, or 22.17 points, to 2,207.11 on lingering concerns about the economy while expectations of fresh measures to kickstart it fade. Sydney ended flat, adding 2.7 points to 5,637.6 and Seoul was 0.35 percent higher, putting on 7.16 points to 2,068.05. US traders reacted positively to weekend comments from Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen on the bank's monetary policy. Yellen told the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that despite a sharp fall in joblessness there was "considerable uncertainty about the level of employment" in the economy. That was taken as signalling her commitment to raise rates late next year, rather than earlier as some analysts and policymakers would like. The prospect of the Fed continuing its accommodative policy cheered US investors, who sent the S&P 500 to a record level. The S&P 500 rose 0.48 percent but ended a tad below the 2,000 level after breaching it for the first time earlier in the day. The Dow added 0.44 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 0.41 percent to its best close since the dot-com crash 14 years ago,according to AFP.