Asian stocks wobbled toward the end of a sparkling quarter on Tuesday, while a resurgent dollar pushed the yen to a four-decade low and was headed for a fourth straight quarterly rise.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened down 18 points, or 0.08 percent, at 23,007.

The tech index was up 23 points, or 0.54 percent, at 4,416 while the China enterprises index was six points, or 0.08 percent, lower at 7,599.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index opened down 15 points, or 0.39 percent, at 4,058.

The Shenzhen Component Index was down one point at 15,811 while the ChiNext Index was up 0.02 percent at 4,217.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei opened up 617 points, or 0.89 percent, at 70,085 before losing ground to be 386 points, or 0.56 percent, up at 69,854 at one stage before midday.

In Seoul, the Kospi opened up 22 points, or 0.26 percent, at 8,416 and was listless at one stage just before noon and falling into negative territory to be 11 points, or 0.13 percent, lower at 8,383.

The oil market's worries about war have receded into memory with benchmark Brent crude futures at pre-war prices of US$72.49 a barrel, even though the interim ceasefire is strained.

"Now that we have oil prices down, it's reinforcing our view of more trend-like growth around the world relative to sub-trend that we were thinking about a couple of months ago, and feeding into the better earnings story as well," said Kerry Craig, strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management in Melbourne.

The dollar's rise has driven gold to its largest quarterly fall in more than a decade while the yen touched a four-decade trough of 162.41 per US dollar in Asia trade, setting traders on edge about possible Japanese intervention.

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said authorities stood ready to respond appropriately at any time.

Chinese manufacturing expanded in June thanks to high-tech exports, while European inflation and US consumer confidence and job openings highlight the data schedule ahead in the session. (Reuters & Xinhua)


Edited by Priscilla Ng