Asian markets recovered some ground on Monday after last week's heavy losses, but investors remained wary about the euro zone despite world leaders calling for Greece to stay in the monetary union and for Europe to balance austerity with growth.
The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index
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Japan's Nikkei average rose, recovering from sharp falls in the previous session, as a call from world leaders for Greece to remain in the euro zone and for Europe to balance austerity with growth helped ease investor worries.
The Nikkei
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The broader Topix dipped 0.2 percent to 724.42. The index is down 0.6 percent for the year after rallying more than 17 percent in the first quarter to post its best January-March performance in 24 years.
Industrial robot maker Fanuc was among the top-weighted gainers, up 2.5 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said it would expand production capacity for numerical control equipment, a high profit margin business for the company, by 30 percent by the end of fiscal 2012.
Exporters remained under pressure as the yen hovered near a three-month high against the dollar. Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, TDK and Nikon lost between 0.9 and 1.2 percent.
Renesas Electronics sagged 13.3 percent after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the semiconductor maker to "sell" from "neutral", citing the company may need to raise capital.
Seoul shares partially recovered from sharp declines in the previous session on bargain-hunting, with investors' nerves partially soothed by a pledge from world leaders to keep Greece in the euro zone and fight the ongoing debt crisis with a balance of austerity measures and pro-growth policies.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
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Blue-chip technology shares, highlighting underperformers from the previous week on heavy foreign selling, rebounded on bargain pick-ups to lift the broader index. Tech-giant Samsung Electronics, the largest listing on the KOSPI index, climbed 4 percent, poised to snap a four-day plunge that wiped out more than $20 billion of its market value, while screenmaker LG Display rose 2.6 percent.
Auto shares also lent support, as Hyundai Motor rallied 3.5 percent while KIA Motor climbed 3.8 percent. Hyundai and Kia are the second and third-largest firms by market value on the main bourse respectively.
OCI, South Korea's largest polysilicon-maker, saw its shares plunge 7 percent after announcing a delay of its $1.6 billion investment into a new production plant due to weak demand and the euro zone debt crisis casting a shadow over business outlook.
Australian shares rose 0.5 percent after slumping to a six-month low last week, with resource stocks advancing in the wake of a call by China's premier for additional efforts to support growth.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index
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Shares in global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto led gains, rising 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent respectively, after being sold off heavily last week. Gold miner Newcrest rose 0.6 percent, after gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday when investors consolidated positions ahead of the weekend.
Financial stocks also rose. Westpac was the best performer of Australia's four major banks, rising 1.6 percent after falling to two-month lows last week.
Shares in James Hardie rose more than 3 percent in early trade but gave up gains to sit 0.9 percent lower after the company posted a fall in fourth-quarter operating profit and said it would buy back up to 5 percent of issued capital.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.2 percent to 3,495.1.
Hong Kong shares slipped, dragged down by a 2.2 percent fall in shares of Chinese internet giant Tencent
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]. The Hang Seng Index
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] fell 0.6 percent at 18,846.49. The China Enterprises Index
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] of top mainland listings in Hong Kong was flat. In the mainland, the Shanghai Composite
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] added 0.3 percent to 2,351.5. In Southeast Asia, Singapore's STI
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