Asian markets mixed; Nikkei slips 1%, Kospi up

Asian shares were mixed in early trading on Tuesday, despite stocks on Wall Street posting their third straight decline as investors awaited earnings and fretted about signs of slowing global growth.

US stocks dropped on Monday, dragged by declines in energy and airline shares amid growing fears over the spread of Ebola. The S&P 500 shed 1.7 percent, down 7 percent from the all-time high it set nearly four weeks ago and falling below its 200-day moving average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.5 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.10 percent or 22.31 points at 23,121.07. Japan's Nikkei shed 1.15 percent or 178.38 points at 15,300.55.

Singapore's Straits Times was flat at 3,199.29. China's Shanghai Composite was flat at 2,366.21.

South Korea's Seoul Composite rose 0.19 percent or 3.61 points at 1,930.82. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted was up 0.13 percent or 11.30 points at 8,722.69.

(with inputs from cnbc.com)