Tokyo Recovers, Shanghai Falls Again

Markets in Tokyo had an up day, recovering some of yesterday's major losses as investors speculated that Japan will stand firm in the face of an economic slowdown. Insurers led the gains on the Nikkei, which rose 1.5%. Other Asian bourses also did well Tuesday, but China was an exception, reports Bloomberg: on fears of an interest-rate cut, the Shanghai-Shenzhen CSI 300 index slumped 5.2% to an 8-month low.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, announced that the government was set to take "appropriate and forceful" action to curb the country's galloping inflation rate. Last month it accelerated to its fastest rate in 11 years. Alongside a comment from China's central bank governor that he had room to tighten monetary policy, that led to big falls on the markets both on the mainland and in Hong Kong. (More Nikkei stories.)