Asian Stocks Mixed After Flat Wall Street Finish

Asian stocks were mixed Thursday amid mild profit-taking in Tokyo and a muted finish on Wall Street.

Stock markets across the region hovered in a narrow range as investors found little incentive to drive the market in a definitive direction. Worries about Spain’s debt problems and weaker-than-expected U.S. housing data weighed on sentiment, while Chinese shares advanced after a three-day holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average slipped 0.4 percent to 10,025.02, as investors moved to lock in gains from Wednesday’s 1.8 percent jump. The index finished above the key 10,000 level for the first time in almost a month.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 percent to 4,543 as miners retreated. Benchmarks in Singapore and New Zealand were also in negative territory.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 20,156.14 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.2 percent to 2,574.83. Stocks in Taiwan and South Korea rose as well.

Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.05 percent to 10,409.46 after BP’s agreement to put $20 billion into a fund for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill lifted the stock market off lows. The market began the day by falling on news that home construction and applications for building permits slumped in May.

Spain’s financial problems also led to fresh hand-wringing. The country’s borrowing costs leapt Wednesday, a day after the European Union said Spain would have to make more spending cuts to cut its deficit.

The S&P 500 fell 0.06 percent to 1,114.61, and the Nasdaq crept up 0.05 percent to 2,305.93.

In currencies, the dollar weakened to 91.29 yen from 91.37 yen late Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.2273 from $1.2299.

Asian stocks mixed after flat Wall Street finish TOKYO