Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade While bargain hunting offered some support, inflation worries and COVID concerns kept the underlying mood cautious. Chinese markets ended lower, as financials and consumer staple stocks came under selling pressure, offsetting gains in the commodities sector. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 20.39 points, or 0.58 percent, to 3,486.56, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished marginally higher at 28,458.44. Japanese shares ended higher despite lingering concerns over slow economic recovery from the pandemic due to stagnated vaccine rollouts. The Nikkei average climbed 219.58 points, or 0.78 percent, to 28,317.83, while the broader Topix index closed 0.46 percent higher at 1,904.69. Japan's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in May while inflation fell in April, surveys showed earlier today just as the country approved two more coronavirus vaccines.