Buy AP Photo Reprints

Your Questions Answered Ask AP: Shuttle complexity, credit union agency

Interactives State budget gaps map Auto industry problems trickle down, punish Tennessee county Women give old Derby hats a makeover in tough economy S.C. town deals with highest unemployment in South How mortgages were bundled and sold as securities Tracking the $700 billion financial bailout Tracking the year's job losses State-by-state foreclosures since 2007 Credit crisis explained Presidents and their economic legacies Lexicon of the financial crisis Americans' addiction to debt Related Stories American charities may not have a happy holiday Meltdown 101: Some signs of strength in US exports

BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stock markets were mostly lower Tuesday despite gains on Wall Street as China's warning to banks to control lending dragged down financial stocks in Hong Kong.

The region also got a poor cue from Japan, where stocks fell after the market was closed for a holiday Monday. The dollar was little changed against the euro and the yen. Gold retreated from a record and oil prices hung below $78.

Investors shrugged off Wall Street ending a three-day losing streak Monday and figures showing that U.S. home sales rose 10 percent in October.

News that China's central bank was warning banks to control a lending spree underlined there are limits to the easy credit which has underpinned the country's rapid recovery from the global recession.

"The central bank has been concerned about lending to the property sector," said Franics Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. "If they can put on the brakes to avoid an asset bubble it is likely to be better for the longer term," he said.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average was down 72.73, or 0.8 percent, at 9,421.53 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 48.61, or 0.2 percent, at 22,722.78. Banks fell in Hong Kong trade with Bank of China off 2.1 percent, China Construction Bank down 1 percent and HSBC retreating 0.3 percent.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.9 percent to 1,604.66 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.5 percent to 4,691.40 on losses in banks and miners. China's Shanghai benchmark bucked the trend to rise 0.1 percent to 3,342.28.

In the U.S. on Monday, the Dow rose 132.79, or 1.3 percent, to 10,450.95, after losing 120 points over the previous three days. It was the Dow's highest close since Oct. 2, 2008. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 14.86, or 1.4 percent, to 1,106.24.

Oil hovered below $78 a barrel in Asia amid mixed signs about crude demand. Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 10 cents to $77.66 a barrel. The contract rose 9 cents to settle at $77.56 on Monday.

In currencies, the dollar fell to 88.89 yen from 88.97. The euro fell to $1.4946 from $1.4964.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Click here for copyright permissions! Copyright 2008 Associated Press