AP

Asian stock markets mostly higher ahead of earnings reports

By Associated Press | April 11, 2016 @ 9:20 pm

Eric Schumacher, left, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 11, 2016. U.S. stocks opened higher on Wall Street following gains overseas as investors held out hope for more economic stimulus from China. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

More Photos

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 11, 2016. U.S. stocks opened higher on Wall Street following gains overseas as investors held out hope for more economic stimulus from China. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Peter Mancuso, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 11, 2016. U.S. stocks opened higher on Wall Street following gains overseas as investors held out hope for more economic stimulus from China. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

See all photos

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Asian stock markets mostly gained on Tuesday as investors awaited corporate earnings results at home and abroad.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 percent to 15,937.80 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 percent to 1,976.40, a day before South Koreans elect 300 new lawmakers to parliament. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.2 percent higher to 20,491.02 and Australia’s S&X/ASX 200 added 0.6 percent to 4,961.80. But China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7 percent to 3,013.60. Stocks in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines advanced.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “U.S. company reporting is a key factor this week,” said Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets, noting Monday’s report by aluminum mining giant Alcoa’s better than expected first-quarter earnings. While some bemoan the “jobless recovery” and weaker revenues, “In the meantime, investors who are not subscribers to the ‘perfect world’ theory of markets got on with buying Alcoa,” he said in a commentary.

EARNINGS: Apart from Alcoa, later this week big U.S. banks will start releasing results, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, though expectations are low for this earnings season. In Asia, Samsung Electronics gave an earnings preview that surpassed expectations last week and results of other major companies are due in coming weeks.

WALL STREET: Wall Street ended Monday generally flat as investors awaited first-quarter company earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 percent to 17,556.41. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.3 percent to 2,041.99 and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4 percent to 4,833.40.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 9 cents to $40.27 per barrel. The contract rose 64 cents to close at $40.36 a barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 10 cents to $42.73 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The yen rose to 108.18 yen from 107.89 yen while the euro fell slightly to $1.1406 from $1.1413.