Asia report: China moves to steady the ship after Monday's bloodbath

Tuesday saw most Asian markets drop although Chinese indices steadied after a sharp slide on Monday following a week-long holiday in the Asian giant.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped by 1.32% to 23,649.39 after a system failure hit the Tokyo stock exchange, forcing several brokerages to temporarily freeze operations.

The Nikkei was also playing catch-up with its regional peers, with the Tokyo bourse having been closed for a national holiday yesterday, with electronics firms such as Sharp and Renesas leading the drop amid concerns over trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen was up 0.10% against the dollar at JPY113.12.

On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite Index edged higher by 0.17% to 2,721.01, while the Shenzhen Composite dropped by 0.09% to 1,385.09, with both remaining relatively steady after steep slides on Monday as Beijing moved to shield the country's companies from the fallout of the country’s escalating trade war with the US.

On Monday, Beijing indicated that it will increase export tax rebates from the start of next month in an attempt to aid the economy and encourage trade growth, possibly reassuring investors in the process and helping to steady the Chinese market.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index drifted lower by 0.11% to 26,172.91 as internet giant Tencent hit a 15-month low - extending its losing streak into an eighth consecutive session - and car-maker Geely saw its shares sag after releasing an underwhelming September sales report.

To take note, losses in the former took its losing streak o and has never fared worse compared to global technology shares.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped by 0.60% to 2,253.83 as industrial firm’s struggled, with Korea Steel Shapes, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries each taking big hits.

Brent Crude jumped by 0.98% to $84.74 and WTI increased by 0.66% to $74.78.

Down under in Australia meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.97% to 6,041.07 as financial stocks continued to drag, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group both extending their losses from the prior session.

Food and beverage company Bellamy’s was the big faller though, sinking more than 5% as fellow Chinese consumer focused growth stock Treasury Wine also fell.

Shares also continued to slump in New Zealand, where the S&P/NZX 50 was down by 0.84% to 9,069.98 as growth-oriented stocks such as A2 Milk Co and Pushpay Holdings continued to suffer amid still-rising US bond yields.

It was Restaurant Brands New Zealand, however, that led the fallers, while Sky Network Television dropped due to the weak New Zealand dollar catalysing increased costs for acquiring foreign broadcast rights.

Australia’s dollar down by 0.21% against the greenback at AU$1.42, while the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.19% to NZ$1.55.