Stocks in Asia closed the session mixed after cautious trade on Wednesday as the British pound fell on new poll results ahead of the U.K. election and on better than expected official Purchasing Managers' Index figures out of China.
The Nikkei 225 declined 27.28 points, or 0.1%, to 19,650.57
The Hang Seng Index returned after holiday to slide 40.98 points, or 0.2%, to 25,660.65
Japan industrial production for April rose 4% from last month, compared to the 4.3% estimated by a recent poll. The yen was slightly stronger, with the U.S. dollar fetching as little as 110.78 yen after the news compared to around 110.84 earlier. Dollar/yen traded at 110.97 mid-afternoon in Asia.
South Korea's LG Display reversed losses in early trade to gain 1.7%. Shares of the LG Display had jumped in the last session on news the company was "reviewing" an increase in its investments in flexible organic light-emitting diode screen production
Shares of Mitsubishi Motor were higher by 0.8% to close at 718 yen a share. In a note, Citi said it was upgrading its call on Mitsubishi Motor shares to neutral, following Nissan outlining its medium-term plans. Nissan has a controlling stake in Mitsubishi.
A poll, taken ahead of an election next week, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party could lose 20 of the seats it currently holds in the House of Commons while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party could gain 30 additional seats. This would result in a loss of the Tories' overall majority at parliament
CHINA
The CSI 300 returned to business after a long weekend, gaining 12.45 points, or 0.4%, to 3,492.88
This was just after the release of official PMI for the month of May, which came in at 51.2 compared to the 51.0 estimated.
The Australian dollar, which tends to be sensitive to resource demand from China, trended higher after the news to trade around $0.7474. The Aussie later declined to trade at $0.7449 against the U.S. dollar late afternoon.
One source said political developments at the end of the year and China's attempt to contain leverage are bigger market drivers than PMIs at the moment
Meanwhile, the overnight yuan borrowing rate in Hong Kong rose to its highest level in five months
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index tumbled 61.23 points, or 0.6%, to 10,040.72
In Korea, the Kospi index inched up 3.7 points, or 0.2%, to 2,347.38
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index regained 6.03 points, or 0.2%, to 3,210.82
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 6.94 points, or 0.1%, to 7,418.90
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 6.69 points, or 0.1%, to 5,724.57
