Chinese stocks soared in Shanghai Thursday to register their highest single-day percentage gain in years, after the government slashed a tax on share transactions, a move aimed at bolstering a stock market that ranked among the worst performers in Asia this year.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index climbed 1.6% to 25,703.83 while the Nikkei 225 index in Japan, declined 0.3 percent to 13,540.87.
Among Tokyo blue chip stocks, Toyota Motor Corp. edged down 0.2 percent.
The company on Wednesday announced its global sales in the January-March quarter rose 2.7 percent from a year ago to 2.41 million vehicles, beating its U.S. rival and the world's top automaker General Motors, which sold 2.25 million units in the quarter.
Shares in Japan's No.2 automaker, Honda Motor Co., rose 0.3 percent, but Nissan Motor closed 0.5 percent lower.
Leading the gains in Shanghai, the country's two largest insurers -- China Life Insurance Co. and Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. -- surged the daily limit of 10% on hopes that a rally in the stock market would boost their investment income. Citic Securities, the country's largest brokerage, jumped 9.1%. In Hong Kong, China Life jumped 8.2% and Ping An soared 11%.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index shed 1.2% to 5,587.30.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index advanced 0.2% to 3,616.81.
India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, added 0.5% to 16,788.44 in the afternoon.
South Korea's Kospi gave up 0.1% to 1,799.34.
Taiwan's Weighted index slipped 0.2% to 8,990.33.
with files from other wire services
