Tokyo Nikkei 225 up 0.20%, S&P ASX 200 down 0.23% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Tokyo , 16 Jul - Asian shares closed mixed in cautious trade, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.33%, further retreating from a more than two-year high. The index climbed for a fifth straight month in June, when it rose more than 3%, its best performance since February.

Japanese shares closed moderately higher, rebounding from Friday's selloff as trading resumed in Tokyo after a three-day weekend.

A strong close on Wall Street yesterday helped support global sentiment after dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell rekindled hopes of an interest rate cut this year.

Increased speculation over a a second term for Donald Trump spurred hopes for an easier regulatory environment in the US, but weighed on Chinese stocks. In his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, Trump had slapped steep tariffs on China.

The Nikkei index closed up 0.20% at 41,275 points, in Sydney the S&P ASX 200 closed down 0.23% at 7,999 points, while in Seoul the KOSPI closed up 0.18% at 2,866 points.

The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.04% at 2,972 points and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was down 1.54% at 17,738 points. In Mumbai the Sensex index rose 0.20% to 80,825 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 16-07-24 09:08:55 (0186) 5 NNNN