HONG KONG - Asia-Pacific stock markets sank on Tuesday as optimism about US corporate earnings tapered off and China denied it was easing restrictions aimed at curbing its red-hot property market.

The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed down 0.11% at 9,537.23 after a brief rally, continuing a fall the previous session after the government's weekend election debacle.

Improved results in the second quarter for US aluminium giant Alcoa initially provided a lift but traders remained anxious to see the host of results still to come from the United States' big hitters.

Alcoa said it had booked a net profit of $136 million compared with a loss of $454 million a year ago. Investor attention is now on microchip giant Intel, which reports later Tuesday.

Nissan Motor fell 1.52% after Japan's third largest automaker said it might suspend production in the United States and Mexico due to delayed delivery of parts, in addition to a three-day halt at some domestic lines from Wednesday.

"This week's trading catalysts are short-lived," a Japanese brokerage manager told Dow Jones Newswires, citing fading excitement about Alcoa.

Hong Kong was down 0.23% at 20,420.35 in the afternoon and Shanghai closed down 1.62% at 2,450.29, both led by property developers after Beijing denied reports it had loosened controls on mortgage lending.

China's housing ministry acknowledged "positive changes" in the property market but urged local governments to strictly comply with lending policies designed to curb speculative investment.

"It's too early to expect property tightening measures to turn around as the property prices didn't significantly decline," said Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities.

Sydney sank from a positive start, with the S&P/ASX 200 index closing down 0.67% at 4,380.3, partly taking its cue from China and also due to worries about iron ore prices. Rio Tinto fell 3.23% and BHP Billiton 2.56%.

"Everyone knows China is still going to be a powerhouse economy and will still grow," said Cameron Securities analyst Adrian Leppinus. "But the great growth that we've seen over the last few years, there are a few fears at the moment that is going to slow a little bit."

Mumbai fell 0.15% to 17,909 points after software exporter Infosys announced a below-forecast fall of 2.4% in its first-quarter consolidated net profit. Infosys shares fell 2.8% in morning trade.

Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.11% at 2,922.00 in the afternoon.

The euro remained weak in Asian trade due to worries about next week's eurozone banking stress-test results and a potentially weak survey of German economic sentiment later in the day.

After a morning high, the euro dropped to $1.2594 in the early afternoon, the same level as New York late Monday. It softened to 111.59 yen from 111.63. The dollar slipped to 88.60 yen from 88.63.

Oil prices also edged down in Singapore, with the market shrugging off the positive data from Alcoa as traders fretted over performances by the US retail and corporate sectors.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, fell 36 cents to $74.59 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for August shed 38 cents to $73.99.

"Crude prices have been quite correlated with economic data... If the retail sales fell worse than expected, yes" crude prices would fall, said Serene Lim, oil and gas analyst with ANZ bank in Singapore.

Gold opened at $1,200.00-$1,201.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Monday's close of $1,208.00-$1,209.00.