Asian markets mixed as Covid rages on

TOKYO: Asian investors battled to build on recent gains on Tuesday as they tentatively assessed the global outlook against the backdrop of rising Delta coronavirus cases and signs of a slowdown in the economic recovery.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 briefly broke 30,000 for the first time in five months on growing expectations for a fresh injection of stimulus after Japan's prime minister said he would step aside, paving the way for a new big-spending successor.