06:29 AM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were choppy Tuesday, as traders weighed foreign exchange markets and equity valuations ahead of the pending producer price index report from Washington.

Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground, while Tokyo finished in the green. Other regional exchanges were also uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and finished up 0.5% as a softer yen aided export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 176.60 to 38,356.06 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 124 to 101.

Leading the upside was Furukawa Electric, up 18.6% after reporting earnings, while builder Kajima fell back 8.9%, also after reporting results.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher but lost ground, finishing off 0.2% as traders edged away from property issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 41.35 to 19,073.71, with gaining issues outnumbering losers 50 to 31. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.6% on the day, but the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi AppTec, up 3.8%, while Xinyi Glass lost 9.6%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 3,145.77.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.6%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.3%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.5%.