US giant J.P. Morgan Chase last week announced fourth quarter net earnings quadrupled and profits doubled for the full year. But the news was not as good as had been expected by many analysts, weighing on the stock on Friday. "While investor sentiment started 2010 with a flourish, a mixed dose of US corporate earnings has seen risk appetite fade a little," Danica Hampton, a forex strategist at Bank of New Zealand, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Among the banks to be posting results are Citigroup later Tuesday, while Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will release on Wednesday. Tokyo closed down 0.83 percent, or 90.18 points, at 10,764.90. Japan Airlines shares finished flat at five yen (five US cents), having hit a record low of three yen earlier in the day as dealers sold up prior to an announcement Tuesday on a state-backed restructuring package for the airline.
Seoul closed flat, with the index, edging down 1.56 points to 1,710.22. Taipei closed down 1.07 percent, or 88.82 points, at 8,249.00. Formosa Plastics fell 2.2 percent to 68.30 Taiwan dollars and Asustek was down 3.9 percent at 67.20. Wellington fell 0.60 percent, or 19.52 points, to 3,227.59. Auckland International Airport fell one cent to 1.90 dollars, declining a total of 6.4 percent since news on Monday last week it would buy a quarter share in North Queensland Airports. Manila shed 0.70, or 21.73 points, to 3,084.57. Telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co dropped 0.55 percent to 2,720 pesos.