Most Asian-Pacific stock markets drop; earnings cloud Australia

                                                  

Shares declined Tuesday on most Asian-Pacific markets. Earnings disappointment cooled traders' enthusiasm in Australia, leaving the S&P/ASX 200 down 1.1%. South Korea's Kospi Composite dropped 1.6%, Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.1% and New Zealand's NZX 50 slipped 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%. In afternoon trading, Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.7%, Malaysia's KLCI slid 0.2%, Indonesian shares gave up 0.9%, India's Sensex inched down 0.1% and Thailand's SET skidded 0.5%. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Full story here