06:55 AM EDT, 08/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely tracked higher Tuesday on overnight Wall Street cues, and the global recovery in tech issues.

Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges, but Hong Kong and Shanghai held back on concerns regarding macroeconomic stimulus from Beijing.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.8% as a softer yen undergirded export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 674.30 to 38,062.92 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 204 to 20.

Leading the upside was online marketplace Mercari, up 8.7%, while 7-11 chain retailer Seven & i fell 10.6%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher, but closed down 0.3% after Beijing's central bank left rates unchanged.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 58.49 to 17,511.08 as losing issues outnumbered gainers 55 to 24. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 2%.

Leading the upside was aluminum-producer China Hongqiao, gaining 1.7%, while baby-products maker Hengan International fell 6.5%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.9% to 2,866.66.

In economic news, the People's Bank of China held the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) at 3.35%, a peg for business loans, and held the five-year LPR at 3.85%, which is a peg for mortgage lending.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.8%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.4%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.5%.