Japanese stocks ended marginally lower in choppy trade on Wednesday, as investors refrained from taking positions ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision.
The Nikkei 225 dipped 15.23 points, or 0.1%, to 19,883.52
The Hang Seng Index gained 23.8 points, or 0.1%, to 25,875.90
Meanwhile, some companies were under the spotlight on individual news. Nintendo rose 1.8% and was the most traded stock by turnover after the company announced on Twitter that it would release Super Mario Odyssey for Switch on Oct. 27.
Ono Pharmaceutical Co jumped 5.1% after the company said it would repurchase up to 20 million shares, representing 3.8% of outstanding shares. It also said it planned by the end of October to retire up to 50 million shares of its common stock, including repurchased shares between June 14 and Sept. 29.
Shares of Toshiba were under pressure after the company gave notice that compensatory damages had been filed against it due to "accounting issues." Toshiba said that more than 43 billion yen ($399 million U.S.) of damages were sought. The company could also postpone filing its annual report, media quoted Japanese media as saying.
Even with news this morning that South Korean chip maker SK Hynix had joined the fray in bidding for Toshiba's semiconductor arm, shares of the latter were down 4%
In New Zealand, the current account deficit widened to NZ$8.13 billion in the first quarter on year, compared to a gap of NZ$7.28 billion seen. The kiwi dipped 0.2%to 0.7210 to the dollar after the data. The New Zealand dollar last traded at $0.7236.
Investors are also waiting for the Federal Reserve to announce its decision on monetary policy in the U.S., due early in the Asian morning Thursday. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates, with markets looking for details regarding the reduction of the central bank's massive balance sheet.
The U.S. dollar-yen pairing was mostly flat at 110.06, after slipping below the 110 handle earlier this week.
CHINA
Greater China markets traded lower after the release of economic data earlier in the session.
The CSI 300 lost 46.97 points, or 1.3%, to 3,535.30
Data from China reflected that factory output for the month of May topped expectations, as did retail sales. However, fixed-asset investment in the world's second-largest economy came in below expectations.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index dumped 55.69 points, or 0.6%, to 10,072.46
In Korea, the Kospi index dropped 2.06 points, or 0.1%, to 2,372.64
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index deleted 4.09 points, or 0.1%, to 3,253.43
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 strengthened 43.91 points, or 0.6%, to 7,484
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 61.14 points, or 1.1%, to 5,833.90
