Asian stocks swung between gains and losses amid concern a global slowdown will hit earnings at companies from Advantest Corp. to BHP Billiton Ltd., while Premier Wen Jiabao’s call for more investment lifted Chinese railway shares.

Nikkei 225 8,851 -6.73 -0.08%

S&P/ASX 200 4,096.54 -1.48 -0.04%

Shanghai Composite 2,175.38 +10.95 +0.51%

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, slipped 0.5 percent in Sydney after Citigroup Inc. said slowing growth in China will hurt demand for iron ore.

Advantest, a maker of memory-chip testers, slumped 3.3 percent in Tokyo after a leading U.S. manufacturer of semiconductor equipment cut its sales forecast.

China Railway Group Ltd. paced gains among shares in the sector.