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Hong Kong - Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday, with another record close for the Dow on Wall Street offset by profit-taking, while Tokyo softened as the yen rose above the 100 mark against the dollar.
Shanghai and Hong Kong shares were also tepid after rallying on Monday on a Chinese reform blueprint that pledged more of a role for private firms in the economy.
Tokyo eased 0.54%, Sydney fell 0.48% and Seoul was 0.98% higher while Hong Kong climbed 0.74% and Shanghai added 0.20%.
With few catalysts to drive business, regional markets took a breather after enjoying healthy gains over the past week.
Attention will be on a speech by outgoing Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the day to see if he gives any hints about future policy or when the US central bank will begin winding down its stimulus programme.
In New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.09% at 15,976.02, another all-time high for a fourth successive session.
However, it suffered a late sell-off after breaking the 16,000 barrier for the first time, with traders spooked after investment titan Carl Icahn said he was cautious about equity markets, adding they could fall soon.
Also on Wall Street the S&P 500 eased 0.37% after earlier topping 1,800 for the first time, while the tech-rich Nasdaq fell 0.93%.
Japanese traders were cashing in after the Nikkei surged 7.7% last week, while the stronger yen was also hurting exporters.
In morning trade the dollar bought ¥99.83 compared with ¥99.93 in New York. The greenback had topped out at 100.40 yen in Tokyo Monday before slipping.
The euro fetched $1.3509 and ¥134.86, against $1.3507 and ¥134.97.
Hong Kong and Shanghai added to the previous day's gains after Friday's release of a Chinese government document outlining plans to open up the financial sector, relax restrictions on investment and improve the country's initial public offering system.
On oil markets New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for December delivery, was up one cent at $93.04 while Brent North Sea crude for January was down 30c at $108.17.
Gold fetched $ ,272.00 per ounce at 02:20 GMT compared with $1 282.70 on Monday.
