Asian stock markets were mixed and muted Tuesday, as rising global petroleum prices and interest rates weighed on equity values.
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, while other regional exchanges were mixed.
Brent crude was last up 1.9% at $92.21 a barrel.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and closed off 0.2%, on elevated interest rates and oil bills.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 96.59 to 66,215.34, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 169 to 55.
Leading the upside was Sumitomo Chemical, up 8.4%, while Furukawa Electric declined 4%.
In economic news, Japanese private-sector spending on plant and equipment rose 1.6% on-year in Q2, reported the Ministry of Finance.
Also, yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds touched 3% for the first time since 1996 amid concerns regarding government deficits and possible Bank of Japan rate increases.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, led lower by tech and property issues.
The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 237.26 to 25,329.73 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 69 to 24. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.7%.
Leading the upside was knitwear-maker Shenzhou International, gaining 4.2%, while property-developer Longfor declined 3.8%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,979.89.
In economic news, the S&P Global final China manufacturing purchasing managers index increased to 51.5 last month from 50.9 in July, and struck further above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.
On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.2%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.8%, and the Thai Set dropped 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was largely steady.
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% on the day.