TOKYO, Feb 18: Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday amid growing confidence for an economic turnaround in some countries and profit-taking in others.

Share prices in Tokyo also closed mixed as investors waited for the Japanese government to flesh out an anti-deflation plan unveiled last week, dealers said.

Market participants were also cautious before US President George W. Bush concludes a three-day trip to Japan, they added.

The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended the session up 45.15 points or 0.45 per cent at 10,093.25.

But the Topix index of all issues on the market’s first section closed down 0.82 points at 981.68.

We need something more on the anti-deflation policy. The market won’t have confidence until we have confidence in the government, said associate director of West LB, Takafumi Ochiai.

Bush offered little new in a press briefing after his summit meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Monday, simply saying he supported the existing reform plans.

Last week the government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy chaired by Koizumi discussed details of a new reform plan to stabilise Japan’s shaky financial system — buried under a mountain of bad debts — and reverse deflation, which has crippled corporate profits since the middle of the 1990s.

But a concrete outline has yet to be released and investors are growing increasingly impatient.

HONG KONG: Share prices rose 0.4 per cent in the territory on late selective buying amid expectations of improving prospects for the property sector.