AFP/Tokyo

Asian markets mostly rose yesterday following a rally in the previous session, while Tokyo enjoyed a pick-up after a long weekend as the dollar remained strong against the yen.

Wall Street provided strong support after the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs for a third straight session despite weak retail sales figures.

Tokyo rose 0.64% as it played catch-up with a region-wide advance on Monday. The Nikkei added 92.87 points to 14,599.12.

Sydney added 0.1%, or 4.9 points, to 4,986.0 and Shanghai ended 0.31% higher, adding 6.33 points to 2,065.72, while Hong Kong was flat, edging 9.07 points higher to 21,312.38.

But Seoul fell 0.47%, or 8.80 points, to 1,866.36.

Profit-taking capped most gains after Monday’s rally fuelled by Chinese economic growth data that came in line with forecasts.

However, the 7.5% expansion in April-June still represented a second mixed straight quarter of slower growth, highlighting weakness in the world’s number-two economy.

Japanese investors took advantage of the softer yen, which began to fall against the dollar last week after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said the bank’s easy money policy would remain in place for some time.

In Tokyo forex trade, the dollar, which peaked above ¥100 in early trade, eased slightly to sit at ¥99.76 late yesterday, compared with ¥99.82 in New York late Monday.

The euro fetched $1.3069 and ¥130.21 compared with $1.3064 and ¥130.41 in New York.

Oil prices fell. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, lost six cents in the afternoon to $106.26, while Brent North Sea crude for August was down $1.27 at $107.82.

Gold fetched $1,291.21 per ounce at 1100 GMT, compared with $1,282.92 late on Monday.

In other markets, Taipei ended flat, edging up 5.43 points to 8,260.11; Manila closed 0.55% lower, dipping 36.40 points to 6,583.55; Wellington fell 0.64%, or 29.64 points, to 4,576.55; Bangkok slipped 0.27% or 3.95 points to close at 1,451.45; Kuala Lumpur dipped 0.02%, or 0.28 points, to 1,786.39; Singapore closed down 0.37%, or 11.86 points, at 3,224.96; Jakarta ended up 0.18%, or 8.31 points, at 4,644.04.