Asian markets close mixed

In Asian trading on Tuesday, crude oil rose above $59 a barrel on growing investor optimism that the U.S. recession may have bottomed. Traders look forward to the weekly petroleum inventory data for the week ended May 8 from the Energy Information Agency on Wednesday.

Wall Street ended on a weak note on Monday with stocks moving mostly lower during the session, as traders chose to take profits after recent strong gains. All the major averages closed firmly in negative territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a relatively modest loss. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway's weak quarterly numbers also hurt sentiment to an extent.

Banking stocks bore the brunt of pressure on Monday after U.S. Bancorp, BB&T and Capital One revealed plans to sell common stock in order to raise proceeds to repay funds received under the government's financial bailout program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.82%, the S&P 500 index drifted down 2.15% and the Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.45%.

On Tuesday, trading on Wall Street could be impacted by the release of the Commerce Department's report on the U.S. trade deficit for the month of March. The deficit is expected to widen to $29.0 billion from $26.0 billion in February. There are other key economic reports due to be released later in the week, including reports on retail sales, industrial production, and producer and consumer price inflation. Traders are also likely to keep a close eye on the weekly jobless claims report.

The Japanese market closed sharply lower, dragged down by financials, auto and other notable stocks, which advanced sharply over the past few sessions. The strengthening of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar also weighed on exporters. However, stocks belonging to pulp and paper, glass and ceramics, and forestry and fishery sectors closed firm.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed at 9,299, down 153 points or 1.62% and the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 15 points or 1.67% to 885.

Automakers led the decliners. Honda drifted down 1.38%, Suzuki declined 1.98%, Toyota edged down 1.32%, Nissan slipped 0.97% and Mazda tumbled 4.62%. Isuzu Motors slumped 7.33% on reporting its first net loss in 6 years for full year 2008.

In the technology sector, Advantest slipped 0.06%, Kyocera fell 1.66%, Fujitsu edged down 0.39% and Sony fell 2.97%, but Tokyo Electron rose 1.16% and Fanuc ended up 0.51%. Nuclear energy-related stocks such as Toshiba Corp and Japan Steel Works also closed higher.

Banking stocks were the worst hit. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group tumbled 5.04%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slumped 6.73%, Mizuho Financial Group plummeted 6.15% and Resona Holdings fell 4.26%.