Asia Markets Mixed as Australia Hits Six-Year High

HONG KONG--Australian stocks hit a six-year high early Tuesday, before slipping into small losses in a morning of mixed trade in Asia.

In Sydney, the S&P ASX 200 rose as 0.3% to 5554.50 early in the session after a choppy day of trading in the U.S. ended with stocks in positive territory. The index was last trading just below Monday's close, at 5532.40.

Australia was pulled away from its multiyear high by declines in both miners and banks. Westpac Banking Corp. fell 0.6% and National Australia Bank lost 0.9% after they were downgraded by Citigroup. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton lost 0.9% and 0.5% respectively, after spot iron-ore fell 2.2%.

The rest of Asia lacked clear direction, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi flat and Singapore's Straits Times Index down 0.3%.

With Japan closed for a public holiday, trading was thin across Asia. The dollar was steady against the yen, at Yen102.49, after gaining a total of 0.3% on Monday.

More broadly the region was treading water ahead of events such as the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting Wednesday, which will provide an update on the central bank's stance on stimulus measures. This will be followed Friday by nonfarm payrolls, a labor report that provides a health check on the world's largest economy. In Asia, the main piece of economic data for the week will be April manufacturing figures for China on Thursday.

Write to Daniel Inman at [e-mail]

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