Asia markets were mixed Tuesday, as investors eyed the dollar for guidance amid growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan tailed off 4.47 points to 17,668.15, likely taking its lead from the yen's direction.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong regained 101.69 points, or 0.5%, to 22,323.91
The yen hovered around the key level of 108, fetching 108.30 per U.S. dollar as of late afternoon, after initially trading as high as 107.76 earlier.
In stock news, Hanjin Shipping gave back earlier gains as high as 11.2%, to trade up 3.6% after Monday's news that Korea Line was picked as the preferred bidder to buy the embattled shipper's Asia-U.S. operations.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics shed 0.9% after initially trading as high as 1.8%, after the electronics giant said it would buy U.S. automotive electronics supplier Harman International Industries for $8 billion U.S..
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai lost 0.38 points to 3,429.87
China is due to release its October foreign direct investment figures later in the day. Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan softened to 6.8598 against the greenback as of late afternoon, after falling to its weakest since January 2009 at 6.864.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi dropped 6.87 points, or 0.4%, at 1,967.53
The Straits Times Index in Singapore recovered 10.28 points, or 0.4%, to 2,797.55
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index slipped 9.37 points, or 0.1%, to 8,931.03
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 32.67 points, or 0.5%, to 6,770.43
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 fell 19.53 points, or 0.4%, at 5,326.20
