Asian equities closed mostly lower on Wednesday as markets awaited Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before congress in the U.S.
The Nikkei 225 moved backward 97.1 points, or 0.5%, to 20,098.38
The Hang Seng Index gained 166 points, or 0.6%, to 26,043.64
Over in Japan, Toshiba shares closed up 1.1% following news the company was in talks with Western Digital after negotiations with a preferred bidder stalled. Western Digital had won a temporary court order on Tuesday that allowed it to access shared databases due to its joint venture with Toshiba.
In economic news, Japan's June corporate goods price index increased 2.1% on year, aligning with analyst expectations. The index tracks the prices corporations charged each other for goods and services.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was softer against the yen after hitting a four-month high in the previous session, with the greenback last fetching 113.49 yen.
Ahead, Yellen's testimony before congress on Wednesday was also expected to be closely watched by investors.
Topics likely to crop up in the testimony included the timing of the Fed's balance sheet unwind, its next interest rate hike, whether the central bank will allow the labor market to run hot and matters relating to Yellen's successor
Australian markets were driven lower by weakness in the financials and health care sub-indexes.
In other currency news, the Australian dollar inched higher following a positive read on the Westpac consumer confidence index for July. The Aussie dollar gave up some gains to trade at $0.7645 U.S. compared to levels around $0.7664 seen earlier in the session.
In other markets
The CSI 300 slid 11.99 points, or 0.3%, to 3,658.82
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 5.11 points, or 0.1%, to 10,420.68
In Korea, the Kospi index slipped 4.23 points, or 0.2%, to 2,391.77
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index shed 9.89 points, or 0.3%, to 3,208.91
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dumped 42.55 points, or 0.6%, to 7,586.02
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 55.09 points, or 1%, to 5,673.83
