Asian equities were mostly higher Wednesday, following the stronger finish on Wall Street and a rise in oil prices overnight.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan recovered 194.06 points, or 1.1%, to 17,862.21,
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 43.38 points, or 0.2%, to 22,280.53
The yen remained weak against the U.S. dollar. The dollar/yen traded at 109.07 as of late afternoon. The pair stood at around 105 on U.S. Election Day. A weaker yen tends to benefit exporters, which get a fillip when overseas earnings are repatriated into the home currency.
Nintendo jumped 2.8% to 25,550 yen after the Japanese game maker announced it would release its Super Mario Run mobile game on Dec. 15.
Oil prices rallied nearly 6% Tuesday on renewed hopes of an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) output cut deal
In Asia, shares of oil majors were mostly higher. Australia's Santos was up 1.5% at A$4.06 and Oil Search added 3.4% to A$6.79. Japan's Inpex was up 3% at 1,045 yen, while South Korea's S-Oil fell 0.7% to 84,200 won.
In Korea, Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 4.8% to 153,500 won, after the shipbuilder announced plans late on Tuesday to spin off its non-shipbuilding businesses into a separate company. The shipping industry in Asia has been under pressure recently, due to weak external demand and overcapacity.
Australian markets were nearly flat, with the energy sub-index's 2.3% rise offset by the materials sub-index's 1.1% drop.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai lost 0.28 points to 3,429.59
The yuan continued to weaken against the dollar, trading at 6.8688 as of mid-afternoon, the Chinese currency's lowest since January 2009. The People's Bank of China lowered Wednesday's yuan midpoint for the ninth straight day to 6.8592, compared with the last close at 6.8565.
Shares in China's Leshi Internet Information & Technology, also known as LeEco, rose as much as 4.6% on news that it had secured more than $600 million U.S. of support for its automotive and high-tech business. But by mid-afternoon, LeEco was trading down 0.4% at 38.96 yuan per share.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi added 12.12 points, or 0.6%, at 1,979.65
The Straits Times Index in Singapore fell 3.56 points, or 0.1%, to 2,793.99
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index regained 31.19 points, or 0.4%, to 8,962.22
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 54.15 points, or 0.8%, to 6,824.58
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 nicked ahead 1.47 points at 5,327.67
