CORRECT:=UPDATE:Asian Shares Mostly Lower; Commodity Cos Up

SINGAPORE -- Most Asian share markets were slightly lower Tuesday despite a strong performance on Wall Street and even as mining stocks found buyers, with some broad fatigue setting in after recent gains.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.1% with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 0.1% lower and South Korea's Kospi Composite falling 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 17 points in screen trade.

The region was lagging the U.S., where all three major indexes rose to new closing highs on the year, helped by energy and materials firms.

The continued decline in the U.S. dollar - and consequent strength in Asia-Pacific domestic currencies - was causing some concern for exporter-related stocks. "Most exporters may underperform the market," said Yukio Takahashi, a market analyst at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.

Commodity-related shares were however rising across the region after base metals gained Monday, with LME three-month copper hitting 14-month highs in London, rising more than 5.0%. Spot gold also briefly touched a record high of $1,143.30 a troy ounce in electronic trade.

In Japan, Inpex was up 0.5% with Sumitomo Metal Mining up 1.4%, while in Sydney BHP Billiton was up 1.9% and Macarthur Coal was higher by 3.8%. In Hong Kong, CNOOC was up 0.3% while China Shenhua rose 0.8% and in Indonesia, Antam was up 4.2%.

"As long as U.S. interest rates remain at current low levels, liquidity and dollar selling will continue to support commodity markets," said Mizuho's Takahashi.

In Shanghai, China Merchant Securities disappointed on debut with the stock only 12.9% higher at CNY35.01, versus market expectations for gains of 20% to 30%. The brokerage sold 358.5 million yuan-denominated A shares and raised $1.62 billion, after attracting CNY1.04 trillion in subscriptions.

In Taiwan, the index was 0.1% lower as financial stocks fell despite news Taiwan and China had signed a long-awaited financial memorandum of understanding late on Monday. IBT Securities analyst Regina Lee said profit-taking likely hurt the financial sector, but "the long-term strength of financial shares remains." Yuanta Financial was down and Mega Financial slipped 3.0%.

Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3%. Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.4%, Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 0.4% and Philippine shares were up 0.2%. In Indonesia, stocks rose 0.4% while Thailand shares were 0.4% higher and New Zealand's NZX-50 was down 1.1%

In Tokyo, Canon shares rose 2.7% after news it would buy Dutch printer maker Oce NV for EUR730 million in cash, with the Japanese office machine maker aiming to grow amid shaky prospects for corporate spending.

Sellers were active in Australian banks, with Westpac off 2.2% and ANZ down 1.5%.

"We're seeing a continuation of yesterday's theme -- a switch out of the banks into the resources," said Chris Blair, head of retail broking at Patersons in Sydney. "The market's thinking banks aren't great value where they are, with yields a little low and valuations a little high."

Hynix Semiconductor fell 6.4% in Seoul after creditors said they may attempt to sell their collective 28% stake through a block deal if a public auction proved unsuccessful. Last week, Hyosung Corp. withdrew its bid for the controlling stake in Hynix.

New Zealand share investors were closely watching the currency market, with the Kiwi dollar briefly rising over US$0.75 against the U.S. dollar for the first time since late October.

Infratil slipped 1.3% after the infrastructure investor posted a first-half net loss, largely due to significant write-downs on existing assets.

In currency trade, tepid equities trade kept the euro contained at $1.4951 from $1.4972 in New York against the U.S. dollar and at Y133.26 from Y133.34 against the Japanese yen while the U.S. dollar was at Y89.04 against the Japanese yen, from Y89.08.

The Australia dollar came off 40 points to US$0.9334 after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia raised doubts about whether the central bank will continue to raise rates at its next policy meeting on Dec. 1. The Reserve Bank of Australia flagged further gradual increases in interest rates but said it is unsure how quickly it will make the policy adjustments.

Hayden Atkins, an economist at Macquarie Bank, said the RBA's minutes illustrate that while the bank remains committed to further tightening, much will depend on the data flow between now and the December meeting.

Lead December Japanese government bond futures were 0.27 higher at 139.13 points, but traders expected some resistance around 139.40. "Given the new government's stance on debt issuance remains uncertain, it's difficult for players to keep buying JGBs actively," said Katsutoshi Inadome, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

The London Mercantile Exchange 3-month copper contract was down $51 at $6,798 per ton from the PM kerb, while nickel was up $50 at $16,850 from Monday's kerb. Spot gold was down $1.20 from New York levels, at $1,138 a troy ounce.

Front-month Nymex crude oil futures were 31 cents lower on Globex at $78.59 a barrel, having risen $2.55 or 3.3% in New York.