06:55 AM EDT, 07/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were largely mixed in Tuesday trading, as traders weighed domestic political and economic outlooks, and the still-evolving US tariff picture.

Hong Kong and Shanghai gained, while Tokyo edged into the red. Other regional exchanges were similarly uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher after a three-day hiatus, and following weekend elections, but the index slipped during the day, finishing off 0.1% as traders also reviewed the Japan-US trade outlook.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 44.19 to 39,774.92, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 124 to 100.

Leading the upside was Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, gaining 6.2%, while Sumitomo Pharma fell 5%.

In other news, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he will stay in office following the weekend elections, thus somewhat muting possible political upheavals, reported The Mainichi newspaper.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly, waffled, but finished up 0.5% as traders anticipated policy changes from Beijing to limit over-capacity in certain industries.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 135.89 to 25,130.03, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 62 to 19. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.9%.

Leading the upside was Xinyi Glass, gaining 7.2%, while New Oriental Education & Technology declined 4.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 3,581.86.

In other news, the recent rally in Hong Kong shares has been driven by hopes that Beijing will limit over-capacity and soft prices in mainland China industries, reported the South China Morning Post.

At the "Politburo meeting later this month convened by President Xi Jinping, (market) expectations are swirling that top leaders will reiterate the case for eliminating excess capacity in new industries including solar panels, electric vehicles and lithium batteries, to reverse price declines," reported the newspaper.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 1.3%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 1.5%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index was little changed, and the Thai Set dropped 1.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.1%.

In other economic news, South Korea's producer price index rose 0.5% on year in June, and rose 0.1% on-month from May, reported the Bank of Korea.