Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday with Australia up on better than expected housing finance data, but Hong Kong was down near the break as investors looked ahead to Europe and Greece.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.58% in late trade, while the Hang Seng index was down 0.27%. The Shanghai Compsoite however rose 0.66% and the Nikkei 225 was flat.
In Australia, March housing finance data rose 1.6%, beating an expected rise of 1.0% month-on-month after a 1.2% increase in February.
The increase in owner-occupied loan commitments was more than expected but the data was mixed overall because the rise was skewed toward purchases of established dwellings. Housing will be closely watched by the Reserve Bank and the Australian Prudential (LONDON:LONDON:PRU) Regulation Authority - which are closely monitoring this to assess and contain risks.
Sentiment on the single currency remained vulnerable as Greece and the euro zone were to hold a fresh round of talks later Monday as Athens scrambles to reach an agreement on a package of economic reforms in order to access fresh bailout funds.
Ahead of the talks Greece’s government indicated that it was still hopeful that progress would be made but euro zone officials have indicated that too many issues still remain unresolved.
Greece was due to repay approximately €770 to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.47%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.51%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.20%.