Asian stocks close Tuesday mixed

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major Asian stock markets closed Tuesday with mixed figures.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 0.55% to 3,422.14 points as of 1053GMT.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 increased 0.73% to close at 29,842.99 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong exchange, was up slightly by 0.04% to reach 19,978.25 points.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped 0.6% to 3,290.99 points.

In China, concerns related to economic activity increased although industrial production improved by 5.6% in April, according to fresh data on Tuesday.

Retail sales in China also rose 18.4% in April on a yearly basis.

India's Sensex index fell 0.66% to close at 61,932.47 and the Singapore index was down by 0.02% to end the day at 3,214.04 points.