Asian Shares Mixed After Wall Street Holiday

Tokyo, Feb 20 (AP) Asian shares were trading mixed Tuesday a day after Chinese markets reopened from a long Lunar New Year holiday.

Wall Street trading was closed Monday in the United States for President's Day. Investors were generally turning less optimistic because of expectations that higher interest rates would likely kick in soon.

China's central bank kept its 1-year loan prime rate unchanged on Tuesday but cut its 5-year rate by 25 basis points to 3.95%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.3% to 16,114.68, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1% to 2,907.02.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost early gains to be little changed, inching up less than 0.1% in morning trading at 38,473.21.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 7,641.30. South Korea's Kospi lost nearly 1.0% to 2,654.72.

A recent US report on inflation at the wholesale level has indicated that rising prices still continues. Such data tend to squelch hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates in March.

In energy trading, US benchmark crude added 26 cents to $79.43 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 2 cents to $83.54 per barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 150.32 Japanese yen from 150.10 yen. The euro cost $1.0765, down from $1.0783.