BANGKOK (AP): Asian stock markets posted muted gains Tuesday, held in check by worries over Greece's deepening debt problems. Oil prices fell below $101 a barrel after a big jump the day before as traders anticipated a further rise in weekly U.S. crude inventories in a sign of weakening demand. The dollar strengthened against the euro but was steady against the yen. After a sluggish opening, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.1 percent to 9,802.44, with shares of Chubu Electric Power Co. rising 1.9 percent after the Japanese utility agreed to a government request to shutter three nuclear reactors at the Hamaoka coastal power plant while it builds a seawall and improves other tsunami defenses. The request came after Japan's 54 reactors were checked for earthquake and tsunami vulnerability after the March 11 natural disasters crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan. The Hamaoka facility sits above a major fault line and has long been considered Japan's riskiest nuclear power plant. Oil surmounting the $100-mark again helped energy shares but hurt airlines stocks. Inpex Corp., Japan's largest energy explorer, gained 1.2 percent, but All Nippon Airways slipped 1.2 percent. Some major exporters were hurt by the yen's refusal to shift lower. Toyota Motor Corp. slipped 0.6 percent, and Panasonic Corp. lost 1.2 percent. Canon Inc. lost 0.3 percent. In Europe, stock markets fell Monday on worries that Greece will need more time or assistance from other EU countries to make payments on its debt, or worse, the country could partially default on the debt that it owes to bond investors. Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's debt rating even further into junk status. Analysts said that all elements taken together paint an uncertain picture for riskier assets. "The U.S. jobs data at the end of last week was broadly positive, but there are still longer term issues that investors are contending with," said Tim Schroeders of Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. "Debt issues in Greece and the downgrading to junk status, and the potential for an additional bailout package and what the implications are for the other debtor countries within the European Union. The signals are definitely mixed." Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 percent to 4,746.90, with shares of Australia's four biggest banks following a decline among financial stocks in New York. Commonwealth Bank of Australia dropped 0.3 percent, Westpac Banking Corp. was 0.9 percent down, National Australia Bank Ltd. lost 0.5 percent, and Australian & New Zealand Banking Group slipped 0.5 percent. Elsewhere, benchmarks in Singapore, New Zealand, the Philippines and mainland China rose. Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday. In New York on Monday, commodity prices recovered some of last week's losses, helping to lift stocks. The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to close at 1,346.29. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.4 percent to 12,684.68. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.6 percent to 2,843.25. Metals and other commodities suffered steep losses last week, when silver tumbled 27 percent and oil sank 15 percent because of fears of weaker global demand and higher margin requirements that were meant to lower the influence of speculators whose strategy of buying on margin is considered to be a reason why commodities have risen so steeply over the last year. Benchmark crude for June delivery was down $1.70 to $100.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $5.37, or 5.5 percent, to settle at $102.55 on Monday. The dollar was little changed at 80.39 Japanese yen. The euro dropped to $1.4286 from $1.4336 late Monday in New York.
