Asia markets traded mostly higher on Thursday with Chinese mainland indexes rising more than 1%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 45.92 points, or 0.2%, to 22,598.39
Major automakers declined with shares of Toyota down 1%, Nissan off by 0.8% and Honda lower by 1.3%
Shares of Mazda Motor fell 1.3%, Suzuki Motor was down 6% and Yamaha Motor lost 4.6%. Those declines followed reports that the automakers conducted improper fuel and emissions tests on their vehicles, according to Japan's transport ministry.
Among other currency pairs, the Japanese yen traded at 111.02 to the U.S. dollar, weakening from an earlier high of 110.68.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng popped 248.16 points, or 0.9%, to 28,607.30
Australian indexes finished in the green. But the energy sub-index wavered between gains and losses before eventually falling 0.3%, which followed an overnight drop in oil prices.
Shares of Santos declined 2.3%, Oil Search was flat and Woodside Petroleum fell 0.4%
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7428 and the euro fetched $1.1602.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 83.02 points, or 2.5%, to 3,397.53.
On Wednesday, Chinese data showed the country's exports for July rose 12.2% on-year, beating analyst expectations for a 10% growth. The July data was the first reading since U.S. tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports came into effect earlier that month.
Beijing said on Wednesday that it will retaliate against the latest round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a 25% tariff on $16 billion worth of American goods. The 333 goods being targeted by China include vehicles such as large passenger cars and motorcycles.
In other markets
Markets in Singapore were closed for holiday.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index dropped 47.18 points, or 0.4%, to 11,028.07
In Korea, the Kospi index inched up 2.26 points, or 0.1%, to 2,303.71
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 soared 68.1 points, or 0.8%, to 8,940.19
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 29.12 points, or 0.5%, to 6,297.65
