Most Asian stock markets ended higher, today, but investors remained cautious amid geopolitical risks as North Korea's planned launch of a long-range rocket depressed the mood. So, Japan's Nikkei-225 gained 0.7 percent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent; China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.8 percent and Singapore's Strait Times index added 1.1 percent. But South Korea's Kospi index shed 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the World Bank has lowered its forecast for China's 2012 economic growth to 8.2%, from 8.4% previously, reinforcing the view that China is set for its slowest annual growth in a decade. But the World Bank also said it had raised its 2013 growth forecast for China to 8.6%, from 8.3%.European stock markets were mixed, today, as investors awaited an auction of longer-dated, Italian government bonds. So London's FTSE-100 and France's CAC fell about 0.5 percent, each, but Germany's DAX edged up 0.1 percent in intra-day trade today.