Markets in Asia mostly advanced on Wednesday, following government data that showed the Chinese economy grew in line with expectations for the July-September quarter.
The Nikkei 225 Index gained 35.3 points, or 0.2%, to 16,998.91
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 89.42 points, or 0.4%, to 23,304.97
Shares of Japanese electronics maker Sharp jumped 10.6%, following a report from the Nikkei business daily that said the company expected to report its first group operating profit in three years, totaling around 40 billion yen ($384 million U.S.) for fiscal 2016.
Sharp, however, put out a statement saying its consolidated net sales for the year ended March 31, 2017, were forecasted to end lower than the previous fiscal year. The company said it would announce financial results for the quarter ended September 30 on November 1.
Shares of Mitsubishi Motors surged 7.9% after the Nikkei business daily reported that Nissan Motor chief Carlos Ghosn would serve as chairman at the beleaguered automaker.
Shares of Nissan added 0.5%, even as most Japanese automakers traded lower. Nissan plans to buy around a third of Mitsubishi Motors, which has struggled in the wake of a scandal over falsified mileage data.
In the gaming space, shares of Crown Resorts, one of Australia's largest casino companies, were down 3%. Earlier this week, reports said 18 of Crown's employees, including the executive vice president of the VIP international business, Jason O'Connor, were detained by Chinese authorities.
The news also sent shares of rival Star Entertainment down 2.2%. Hong Kong-listed gaming stocks were mixed in afternoon trade, with Wynn Macau down 2%, Melco International up 0.4% and Galaxy Entertainment down 0.2%
Elsewhere, shares of Australian resources producer BHP Billiton ended down 0.8% after the company said before the market open that its quarterly iron ore production was 58 million tons for the September 2016 quarter, compared with the 61 million tons produced in the year-earlier period; fiscal 2017 guidance remained between 265 million and 275 million tons. Analysts said the figures missed expectations.
Whitehaven Coal shares jumped to end up 6.7% on Wednesday, after the company released its production numbers for the September quarter earlier in the week, saying managed coal sales were at 5.03 million tons, 12% higher than the year-earlier period.
CHINA
The CSI 300 retreated 5.09 points, or 0.2%, to 3,316.24
Numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics in China showed the third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.7% on-year and 1.8% on-quarter.
Among other data released Wednesday, China's fixed-asset investment increased 8.2% nominally on-year in the January-September period, retail sales were up 10.7% on-year in September and industrial production increased by 6.1% on-year in September, missing markets' expectation for a 6.4% rise.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi moved up 0.51 points to 2,040.94
The Straits Times Index in Singapore added 13.99 points, or 0.5%, to 2,844.62
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index progressed 61.41 points, or 0.7%, to 9,283.99
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 3.44 points, or 0.1%, to 6,976.54
In Australia, the ASX 200 climbed 24.61 points, or 0.5%, to 5,435.36
