Key Asian markets again ended mixed, today. So Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Singapore's Straits Times index declined 0.3 percent; each; and South Korea's Kospi index dropped 0.2 percent. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent; and China's Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2 percent. In Europe, sentiment was subdued, amid concerns over banks. So the UK's FTSE-100 had fallen 0.1 percent, France's CAC-40 had dropped 0.3 percent, and Germany's DAX was flat in intra-day trade. Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which must raise 5 billion euros by the end of the month to avoid state intervention, was again in focus, with its shares down 17 percent. In the currency market, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.1 percent. The dollar has risen 5 percent this year, to hit a 14-year peak, yesterday.