LONDON (CNNfn) - Markets in Singapore and Hong Kong both shot up more than 2 percent Tuesday as investors shrugged off Wall Street's slide a day earlier to hunt for cheapened technology issues and buyout candidates. Tokyo's main index ended the day little changed.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed up 361.83 points, or 2.4 percent, at 15,177.52, led by computer maker Legend Holdings, which rebounded 6.8 percent after falling nearly 10 percent a day earlier.
Singapore's Straits Times index rose 42.58 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at 1,980.55, with electronics maker Omni Holdings jumping 11.4  percent on speculation about a possible takeover of the company. While Omni denied it was considering selling a stake, investors projected it would be the next company in the consolidating sector to fall after NatSteel Electronics and JIT Holdings.
In Tokyo, home to Asia's largest stock market, the Nikkei 225 average closed down just 4.6 points at 14,660.04.
In other leading Pacific Rim markets, the S&P/ASX 200 index in Sydney closed little changed from the previous day, Seoul's KOSPI index added 2.6 percent and Taipei's Taiwan Weighted index closed down 0.4 percent.
Wall Street ended lower Monday. The Nasdaq composite index posted its sixth straight loss, shedding 62.25 points, or more than 2 percent, to close at 2,966.74, a new low for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 85.70 points to 10,517.25.
Tokyo dribbles lower
Political strife in Japan, where Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is being challenged for the leadership from within his own party, hurt sentiment, though some traders said the market's recent decline has left the Nikkei average undervalued. Mori vowed to stay on as prime minister.
"The market's...been braced for political uncertainty in Japan and in the U.S.," said Kazuyuki Naito, general manager of Sanwa Securities equities sales and trading. "Sellers cannot be too aggressive because a consensus now is that the Nikkei below 15,000 could be a bargain."
Computer-related issues in Japan closed lower, with chip company NEC down 3.2 percent while electronics maker Fujitsu lost 1.3 percent and its rival Hitachi shed 1.4 percent. Declines followed U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard's weaker-than-expected report Monday.
Furukawa Electric rose 1.1 percent after the optical fiber maker confirmed a report in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun that it was in talks with Sky Aluminium on integrating aluminum operations. The stock had fallen nearly 12 percent over the past week. Showa Denko, the biggest shareholder in Sky Aluminium, rose 0.7 percent.
The move would give Furukawa Electric and Sky Aluminium a combined 18 percent share of the Japanese market for rolled aluminum products, creating the nation's biggest manufacturer.
Automaker Mitsubishi Motors plunged 7.4 percent, adding to its 4 percent fall on Monday, on disappointment about the automaker's poor earnings outlook.
Mobile-phone operator NTT DoCoMo fell 0.7 percent. After the close on Monday, Japan's leading cell-phone company reported profit in the half-year to September rose to ¥217.5 billion ($2 billion), up 22 percent from a year ago and beating analysts' expectations of around ¥200 billion.
DoCoMo also raised its net profit forecast for this year to ¥347 billion yen, up 12 percent from its previous estimate, and said it would cut rates for calls to and from mobile phones by as much as 21 percent from Dec. 1.
Parent NTT fell 1.1 percent and rival Japan Telecom fell 6.8 percent.
Hang Seng remains the same
HSI Services Ltd., the company that compiles the Hang Seng index, said that it has completed its quarterly review and will make no changes to the 33 constituent stocks on the benchmark index.
In Hong Kong, mainland mobile-phone company China Mobile rose 2.5 percent. China's No. 2 mobile operator China Unicom was added to the  Hang Seng 100 index, but is still not included in the main Hang Seng index. Its shares rose 1 percent.
Internet and telecom company Pacific Century CyberWorks rose 2.5 percent. Ports-to-telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, which shed 3.6 percent Monday, closed up 1.8 percent.
Banking powerhouse HSBC Holdings, which lost 3.5 percent Monday, rebounded 2.3 percent even after analysts at its own investment banking arm on Monday cut their recommendation on the bank's shares. Cosmetics and drugs maker Shanghai Industrial jumped 8.8 percent.
In Singapore, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 4.9 percent, contract electronics maker Venture Manufacturing added 5.2 percent while printed circuit board company GUL Technologies rallied 8.7 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia, the KLSE composite in Malaysia rose 1.1 percent, Bangkok's SET added 0.4 percent, the PHS composite in Manila added 0.9 percent, Jakarta's JSX rose 0.5 percent and the BSE Sensex in Mumbai climbed 3.2 percent.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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