AKIPRESS.COM - Stocks in Tokyo were dented Tuesday by a firmer yen while Chinese shares in Hong Kong fell as skepticism emerged around hoped-for stimulus measures, Market Watch reported several hours ago.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 14403.09 as the Japanese currency strengthened slightly against the dollar, trading at ¥102.23 from ¥102.25 late Monday in New York. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1% to 1942.69 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 5318.40.

A downbeat session on Wall Street weighed on sentiment in Asia. U.S. stocks slumped overnight on a selloff in biotechnology shares, hitting the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite the hardest. The Nasdaq fell 1.2% to 4226.39 and the S&P 500 declined 0.5% to 1857.44.

Bank of Japan data released Tuesday showed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is having trouble getting Japanese corporations to put their large cash piles to work in the economy. Currency and deposits held by private-sector companies excluding financial firms as of the end of December were up 6.4% from a year earlier at ¥222 trillion ($2.17 trillion).

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rallied 2.8% Monday despite worse-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data. Stocks tied to the country’s so-called old economy (oil and bank sectors) were the strongest gainers.

The HSCEI fell 0.2% to 9678.97 Tuesday. The index has dropped 11% this year following a series of reports showing China’s economy weakened in the first two months of the year.