Asia report: China, New Zealand buck regional losses

China and New Zealand led gains in Asia on Tuesday, while most other trading floors in the region took a breather from recent rallies.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.26% to 2,749.57. It was moving further from the 2,500 mark that had analysts worried, as capital outflows from the People's Republic picked up amid concerns about a seriously slowing economy.

Shanghai picked up in early trading, after news spread that the People's Bank of China injected CNY 100bn (£10.6bn) into the money markets in the form of short term loans.

The move was an obvious bid to stave off liquidity pressures ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on 7 February and lasts a week. It was the first of the usual two weekly money market injections the bank performs.

Shanghai was now sitting down 47% from its pre-crash peak of June 2015.

In other parts of the region, the Hang Seng Index was down 0.76%, Seoul's Kospi fell 0.95%, and the Nikkei Stock Average slid 0.64%.

A two-session rally had begun in Asia on Friday off the back of the Bank of Japan's surprise announcement of negative interest rates. But the oil declines, and the lower US trading overnight led to Tuesday's losses across much of the region.

Down under, the S&P/NZX 50 went against the regional trend, closing up 0.1%. The country's construction mammoth Fletcher Building led the risers, up 3.6%, on the news it had paid NZD 315m (£142.1m) for a major civil projects firm, Higgins Group.

Across the ditch, Sydney fell with the S&P/ASX 200 down 1%. The basket of energy stocks led the losses there, losing more than 2% as oil prices hit a seven day low in Asian trading.

BHP Billiton shares were also down 2.16% in Sydney, after Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rating to A from A+, and signalled the firm's financial health would worsen in the next 18 months.

The Reserve Bank of Australia also held interest rates at 2%, which was widely expected, though it did lead to further losses on the ASX.

"The Reserve Bank was less upbeat on the global economic outlook, particularly for emerging countries, and has acknowledged a further slide in commodity prices and reduced appetite for risk", AMP Capital investment strategist Shane Oliver wrote in a note.

"[The central bank] seems more upbeat on the Australian economy at least, in terms of information released over the last few months", he added.

Oil was down after Asian trading - London Brent was down 3.7% to $33.02 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate was down 3.5% to $30.55.

In currencies, the yen was 0.16% stronger against the greenback, at JPY 120.8 per dollar. The Aussie weakened by 0.87% to AUD 1.4178, and the Kiwi by 0.88% to NZD 1.5410.