- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
Asian stocks mostly down after mixed session on Wall Street
Asian stocks were mostly down on Tuesday following a mixed session on Wall Street, with investors still casting about for direction at the start of a week of major announcements.
Bourses in New York, London, Frankfurt and Paris dipped in and out of negative territory on Monday, ahead of earnings results from US tech behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta and Google parent Alphabet.
Investors will also be watching important economic data from Australia and the eurozone, as well as a policy meeting of the Bank of Japan.
South Korea on Tuesday announced better-than-expected economic growth of 0.3 percent for the first quarter of the year, dodging a technical recession.
But that, coupled with a surge in media stocks following a $2.5 billion investment announcement by Netflix, was still not enough to stave off losses in the broader Korean market.
"The (GDP) results were slightly stronger than expectations, but there is still a question mark over whether it will be sustained," Park Sang-hyun, an economist at HI Investment & Securities Co, told Bloomberg.
"Figures largely suggest the economy is still trying to find a bottom."
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore and Manila were also down.
Tokyo, Wellington, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were up.
- US debt showdown -
The US calendar also includes readings on first-quarter gross domestic product and an update on consumer confidence, as well as a potential vote in the long-running political stalemate over the US debt ceiling.
Moody's Analytics said in a note Monday that a plan proposed by Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for cuts in government spending would slow growth and cut employment.
According to the ratings agency's research arm, if the draft presented by McCarthy on April 17 were passed as is, it would lead to a drop of 0.6 percentage points in US potential growth for 2024, as well as the elimination of 780,000 jobs.
On the corporate front, US lender First Republic Bank reported a more than 40 percent drop in deposits in the first quarter this year, but added that the situation had stabilised since late March.
Its shares fell more than 20 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings report, its first since the dramatic failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank last month shone a spotlight on regional lenders and their vulnerabilities.
- Key figures around 0300 GMT -
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.6 percent at 19,637.87
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3266.12
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 28,706.04
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 33,875.40 (close)
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,912.20 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1054 from $1.1050 on Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2488 from $1.2485
Dollar/yen: UP at 134.30 yen from 134.14 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 88.51 pence from 88.46 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $78.71 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $82.64 per barrel
O.Hansen--CPN