Most Asia markets advanced in Thursday trade as markets parsed through U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments, with several indexes hitting record highs in the session.
The Nikkei 225 inched up 1.43 points to 20,099.81
The Hang Seng Index leaped 302.53 points, or 1.2%, to 26,346.17
In individual stocks, South Korean chip maker SK Hynix said it wanted an equity stake in the NAND chip unit of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba. SK Hynix is part of a consortium that Toshiba had chosen as the preferred bidder for the sale of its chip arm. Talks between Toshiba and its preferred bidder have stalled.
Toshiba shares closed down 4.5% while SK Hynix finished higher by 2.5%
Also in the news, Fitch Ratings downgraded Sunac to “BB minus” from “BB” on Wednesday following news that the company was acquiring assets from Dalian Wanda. Fitch also placed Sunac on “Watch Negative”.
Korean markets regained strength, after the Bank of Korea announced it was keeping base rates steady at 1.25%.
The Australian dollar -- which is sensitive to Chinese data -- traded at $0.7710 U.S. late afternoon Thursday compared to the $0.7680 seen before news. The Aussie dollar had strengthened overnight on the back of the softer U.S. dollar.
In the U.S., Yellen said Wednesday the central bank would proceed with the unwinding of its balance sheet this year, but that it was paying close attention to inflation data. Yellen's comments about how it was "premature" to determine if the U.S. economy was on track for 2% inflation was interpreted by market watchers as dovish.
The greenback was mostly flat at 113.15 yen after sliding against the yen overnight. The dollar fetched as little as 113.12 yen overnight compared to levels around 113.95 seen in the prior session.
CHINA
Mainland China markets were mixed following the release of trade data.
The CSI 300 regained 28.1 points, or 0.8%, to 3,686.92
First-half China exports in yuan terms rose 15% on year. Imports for the same period were up 25.7%. Data from Chinese customs also reflected the country's trade with North Korea grew 10.5% in the first half.
Meanwhile, China June trade data came in above expectations. June exports in dollar terms rose 11.3% on year while imports rose 17.2%. A poll of economists had forecast a rise of 8.7% rise in exports and a 13.1% increase in imports.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index moved up 39.47 points, or 0.4%, to 10,460.15
In Korea, the Kospi index jumped 17.72 points, or 0.7%, to 2,409.49
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recovered 26.76 points, or 0.8%, to 3,235.67
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recouped 24.87 points, or 0.3%, to 7,610.89
In Australia, the ASX 200 hiked 62.94 points, or 1.1%, to 5,736.77
