Asian Stocks End Mixed; Japan in Recession

Updated from 12:33 a.m. EST.

Asian stocks closed mixed Monday as Japan's economy slid into a recession for the first time since 2001 and as a weekend meeting of G-20 nations produced few concrete measures to improve economies across the globe.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed higher by 0.7% to 8522.58. The Hang Seng index declined 0.4%, while the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia finished lower by 2.5%. China's Shanghai composite index rose 2.2%.

Japan's economy, the world's second largest, contracted at an annual pace of 0.4% in the July-September quarter after declining an annualized 3.7% in the second quarter as companies sharply cut back on spending in the third quarter amid the unfolding global financial crisis. It means Japan, along with the 15-nation euro zone, is now technically in a recession, defined as two straight quarters of contraction. ...