Stocks in Asia are mostly lower, in Japan....>

STOCKS: Stocks in Asia are mostly lower, in Japan the Nikkei 225 is down 135

points at 23,989. The Nikkei 225 and Topix are both retreating from 26 year

highs hit yesterday in the climax of  a 3 day rally. The yen is stronger in Asia

today, USD/JPY dropped below the 110 handle for the first time since September.

The move lower was mostly led by a weaker dollar, but the resultant yen strength

impacted exporters in Japan, the Tech sector in particular taking a hit dragged

down further by a JP Morgan downgrade of Sony.

- Equity markets in Australia are bucking the negative trend of Asia, the ASX

200 is up 20 points at 6,057. This is the second day of gains for the ASX 200

which was boosted from the open after another record high in the S&P 500 in the

US. Though the metals sector remains weak, dragging down miners, oil made gains

on Tuesday which is supporting the energy sector.

- In China the Shanghai Comp is down 8 points at 3,538, in Hong Kong the Hang

Seng is down 159 points. Analysts are cautioning that a pullback for the Hang

Seng could be on the cards after the index surged at the start of 2018,

recording its best start to a year since 1990.