06:46 AM EDT, 10/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday, as Tokyo gained on internal political outlooks, while Shanghai, Hong Kong and South Korean exchanges were closed on holiday.

Other regional trading floors were uneven.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.9% as an easing yen boosted export issues, and after Japan's new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, somewhat softened recent hawkish comments regarding monetary policy.

In the past, Ishiba had expressed support for Bank of Japan policies to raise interest rates.

Ishiba also scheduled snap national elections for late in October, interpreted by some to mean that LDP proposals for corporate tax increases were off the table in the meantime, reported The Mainichi newspaper.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 732.42 to 38,651.97, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 178 to 41.

Leading the upside was Kawasaki Heavy Industries, up 8.3%, while cyber-security outfit Trend Micro declined 1.4%.

In economic news, the business confidence index for major Japanese manufacturers in September remained unchanged at 13, reported the Bank of Japan, citing its quarterly Tankan survey.

The nation's unemployment rate declined to 2.5% in August from 2.7% in July, reported the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. In the month, there were 123 job openings for every 100 job seekers, unchanged from July, separately reported the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.8%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.8%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set inclined 1.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was steady.

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