06:48 AM EDT, 08/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed and muted Monday awaiting fresh catalysts, with exchanges in Tokyo and Bangkok closed on holiday.

Hong Kong edged higher while Shanghai nudged lower. Other regional exchanges were uneven, although tech-centric markets in Seoul and Taiwan fared well.

In Japanese economic news, about 70% of large Japanese companies expect the nation's economy to expand during the next 12 months, down from nearly 80% a year ago, reported Kyodo News, citing its survey. A weak yen and inflation-impacted personal consumption were cited as concerns.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.1% despite lagging property and tech issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 21.42 to 17,111.65 although losing issues outnumbered gainers 40 to 36. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.2% on the day while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.1%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi Biologic, up 3.7%, while China Unicom HK fell 5.8%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 2,858.20.

In economic news, offshore investors pulled a record amount of money from China in the second quarter, "likely reflecting deep pessimism about the world's second-largest economy," reported Bloomberg News, citing data released Friday from the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The shrinking of offshore investments in China, also called net foreign direct investment, has happened only once before, noted Bloomberg.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.2%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.4%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.5%, and the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.8%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.1%.