Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street recovered some of this month's losses as investors looked ahead to a debate between President Donald Trump and his challenger in the November election, Joe Biden.Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo advanced Hong Kong and Sydney declined.Overnight, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index gained 1.6%, led by big tech stocks.“This is welcome cheer, but does not redeem equities from a negative September,” said Mizuho Bank in a report.
With no obvious catalyst, its analysts questioned whether the rise was driven by little more than “month-end short-covering,” or traders buying stocks to fulfill commitments to re-sell them.