Telecommunications and Utility stocks rose while energy and property shares fell.

For the day, the index climbed 11.69 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 1,621.62 after trading between 1,605.46 and 1,626.86. The New Taiwan dollar, Korean won, New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar are all falling.

Crude continues to be dogged by concern China’s surprise yuan devaluation signals the economy is in trouble, which coupled with evidence of rising output is fueling anxiety over supply. The nation’s cabinet has approved a proposal to overhaul SOEs, the biggest plan of its kind in more than a decade, the South China Morning Post reported. A cheaper yuan gives Chinese exporters a price advantage in foreign markets. “It’s now a given that overproduction won’t be dissolved any time soon”.

Prices for commodities like oil and copper have been sliding for months. Oil also eased back from Monday’s highs.

Meanwhile, other retailers such as Shinsegae and E-Mart advanced 2.4 and 1.1 percent, buoyed by data which showed combined sales at department stores rose 0.9 percent last month from a year earlier. Hong Kong investors have been bearish on China’s economy and have been treating H shares as a cash machine. The probability of a September increase has fallen to 46%, according to futures trading tracked by Bloomberg, from 54% about a week ago.

The Shanghai Composite Index also slipped 0.5 percent, to 3,910.30 points.

The People’s Bank of China said this was part of a shift to a more market-oriented exchange rate policy, but the move was widely seen as a devaluation designed to boost the country’s weakening trade flows.

“The more liberal approach to managing the exchange rate could bolster China’s claims that the renminbi is ‘freely usable, ‘ strengthening its case for inclusion in the IMF’s SDR currency basket”, said Innes-Kerr of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Japan’s benchmark index, Nikkei 225 gained 202.78 points or 0.99 percent to settle at 20,595.55.

In Australia, investors were more upbeat, bringing the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 up by 0.5% to 5,407.00 points.

The rate is set daily and allows a 4% fluctuation – over the past week, the bank had guided the Yuan to a record low sparking fears of a currency war to help lagging Chinese exports. He recommends shares of China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.as a way to benefit from reform in China’s telecommunications industry. The result left the Shanghai index 23% below its June 12 high, but 18% above its July 9 low of 3373 and with a year-to-date gain of 23%.