HONG KONG -Asian stock markets were mostly lower Tuesday as positive U.S. economic reports failed to ease worries about the global recovery. Markets were up early in the day following Wall Street's gain but couldn't hold their advance and resumed the recent falling trend. The dollar was higher against the yen and euro, while oil prices neared $75 a barrel. U.S. reports on Monday pointed to gains in manufacturing and personal spending, adding to signs of recovery after last week's strong U.S. growth data and raising investors hopes ahead of a key monthly U.S. jobs figures. But initial enthusiasm in Asia soon gave way to more fretting about the economy's prospects. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was off 6.31 points, or less than 0.1 percent, at 20,237.44. South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.7 percent to 1,595.81. Elsewhere, Shanghai's index lost 4.63 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,936.73. Markets in India, Taiwan and Singapore also lost ground. Leading Asia's risers was Japan, where the Nikkei 225 stock average jumped 166.07 points, or 1.6 percent, to 10,371.09. Australian stocks also rose. In the U.S. Monday, the Dow rose 118.20, or 1.2 percent, to 10,185.53, its biggest gain since Jan. 4. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.32, or 1.4 percent, to 1,089.19. The Nasdaq composite index rose 23.85, or 1.1 percent, to 2,171.20. In oil, benchmark crude for March delivery was up 27 cents at $74.70 a barrel. The contract rose $1.54 to settle at $74.43 on Monday. The dollar rose to 90.75 yen from 90.59 yen. The euro was slightly lower at $1.3922.

Source