Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday ahead of key risk events later in the day, with apparent land-to-ship missiles fired by North Korea in the morning added to the mix.
The Nikkei 225 dumped 75.36 points, or 0.4%, to 19,909.26
The Hang Seng Index recovered 88.9 points, or 0.3%, to 26,063.06
Shares of Toshiba jumped 5.5% after the company said it was targeting to announce the winning bidder for its semiconductor arm next week. Toshiba put its memory chip unit on sale in a bid to resolve issues in its balance sheet stemming from losses incurred by Westinghouse Electric, its U.S. nuclear arm.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar traded at 109.53, compared to the 109.7 handle seen yesterday.
Also in Japan, the second estimate of first quarter Gross Domestic Product reflected that the economy grew 0.3% compared to the previous quarter, lower than the 0.5% expected. First quarter GDP grew 1% on year compared to the 2.2% forecast.
Meanwhile, short-seller Carson Block announced his decision to short Hong Kong-listed furniture maker Man Wah Holdings yesterday. Man Wah shares fell 15% yesterday and remained suspended from trade.
In the note, Citi said Man Wah's practice of disclosing U.S. sales through a subsidiary in Macau was "common" for China-based exporters. Among other arguments, Citi also stated that it did not believe Man Wah's tax rate was "abnormally low."
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar rose as high as $0.7553 U.S. after the beat in China trade data but later fell to levels seen before the release. Aussie/dollar last traded at $0.7549. April trade data in Australia earlier reflected a smaller than expected trade surplus.
Ahead, markets are expected to focus on the U.K. election. A recent poll indicated the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party has fallen to just five percentage points. Other opinion polls suggest the Conservatives would be able to maintain their parliamentary majority.
Stateside, former FBI Director James Comey is due to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee over whether U.S. President Donald Trump requested him to "drop" a probe into Michael Flynn, the ex-national security advisor.
CHINA
The CSI 300 prospered 27.11 points, or 0.8%, to 3,560.98
China reported better than expected trade data for the month of May. Exports were up by 8.7% and imports gained 14.8% in U.S. dollar terms, compared to the 7% and 8.5% increases projected,
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 15.79 points, or 0.2%, to 10,225.78
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 3.43 points, or 0.2%, to 2,363.57
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 6.56 points, or 0.2%, to 3,237.05
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 sank 9.24 points, or 0.1%, to 7,458.66
In Australia, the ASX 200 strengthened 9.43 points, or 0.2%, to 5,676.60
