Asia markets were broadly down on Thursday afternoon after trading in positive broadly positive territory earlier in the day, as Australia's third- and fourth-largest telecom operators announced plans for a merger.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 21.28 points, or 0.1%, to 22,869.50. The index had been up by 0.8% at the open before rising to a more than three-month high
The yen traded mainly firm against the U.S. dollar at 111.60.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng swooned 252.39 points, or 0.9%, to 28,164.05
In Korea, markets declined after news that U.S. President Donald Trump had signed proclamations which allow for "targeted relief from steel and aluminum quotas from some countries," including South Korea.
Shares of the country's steelmakers rose on that announcement, with Hyundai Steel closing up by 0.6% while Posco saw gains of 0.3%.
Down Under, markets ended the trading day in flat territory. However, the telecommunications sector rose 3.6% after TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia announced a merger that will create a combined entity valued at A$15 billion ($11 billion U.S.).
Shares of Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia), which owns 50% of Vodafone Hutchison Australia, closed 44% higher on that news, while shares of TPG Telecom jumped 18.2%.
Australian dollar recovered from some of its losses but still traded down by 0.1% at $0.7298 U.S.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 lost 35.48 points, or 1.1%, to 3,351.09
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI index fell 18.2 points, or 0.6%, to 3,225.72
In Korea, the Kospi index docked 1.68 points, or 0.1%, to 2,307.35
In Taiwan, the Taiex index deducted 5.82 points, or 0.1%, to 11,093.75
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 22.8 points, or 0.2%, to 9,339.88
In Australia, the ASX 200 subtracted 0.47 points to 6,351.76
