Asian Stocks End Mixed; Nikkei Falls 0.2%

By Malcolm Foster

BANGKOK -- Asian stocks ended mixed Wednesday as economic surveys from the U.S., Japan and China showed that recovery is going to be a long slog. Oil hovered rose above $71 a barrel.

In Japan, the central bank's "tankan" survey reflected a slight uptick in gloomy corporate sentiment. But the results were worse than expected and also showed that companies plan to cut back on capital investment, highlighting the challenges the world's second-biggest economy faces as it climbs out of its steepest recession ever.

Chinese manufacturing expanded slightly in June, two surveys showed, a sign that the world's third-largest economy is slowly rebounding from the collapse in global trade, even though few new jobs were created. ...