Asian stocks closed mixed on Thursday after Japanese stocks erased all the gains they made during morning trade. Investors in the region also digested the release of Chinese inflation data and kept an eye on President Donald Trump's stop in Beijing.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost for the second day in a row, this time, 45.11 points, or 0.2%, to 22,868.71
The Hang Seng Index recovered, though, in a big way, gaining 228.97 points, or 0.8%, to 29,136.57
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ intends to purchase a stake worth around 40% in Indonesia's Bank Danamon. A spokesman from MUFG said the report was not based on any announcements made by the bank.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group stock closed down 0.5% and shares of Bank Danamon jumped 16%. A spokesman from MUFG said the report was not based on any announcements made by the bank.
Shares of Japan Display tumbled 10.4% by the end of the session. The company on Wednesday posted a loss of 36.6 billion yen ($321 million U.S.) for the quarter ending September 30. That was larger than the loss of 4.9 billion yen it reported for the same period one year ago.
Meanwhile, China's Tencent has taken a 12% stake in U.S. social media company Snap. The news came after Snap missed third-quarter revenue expectations on Tuesday.
Tencent shares advanced 0.9%. Other Hong Kong tech shares also rose: China Literature was last up 2.7% extending gains made after the stock closed up nearly 90% on its Wednesday debut.
The U.S. dollar eased on Thursday after slipping in the last session. Against the Japanese yen, the greenback traded at 113.59 late afternoon after climbing as high as 114.06 earlier in the day.
In Australia, the materials and information technology sub-indexes climbed, but a number of energy-related names pared some gains made earlier in the week.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept rates unchanged at 1.75% on Thursday as was expected, but its accompanying comments were
seen as hawkish by markets.
The kiwi dollar held onto most gains made after the announcement to trade at $0.6961 late Thursday afternoon. The currency had spiked as high as $0.6973 U.S. in the Wednesday session, compared to levels around the $0.692 handle seen before the announcement.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 hiked 27.89 points, or 0.7%, to 4,075.90
Meanwhile, China October consumer prices rose 1.9%, compared to one year ago, a touch above the 1.8% rise forecast by economists
Producer prices also topped expectations, increasing 6.9% on year compared to the 6.6% forecast.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index fell 1.83 points, or 0.1%, to 2,550.57
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index subtracted 75.72 points, or 0.7%, to 10,743.27
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 2.66 points, or 0.1%, to 3,423.91
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 19.33 points, or 0.2%, to 8,021.09
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 33.16 points, or 0.6%, to 6,049.43
