Japan's Nikkei share average eked out its first gains in three sessions on Thursday, with insurers leading the way on higher Japanese and global bond yields, though rising volatility in bond prices kept many investors
cautious.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index recovered 14.68 points, or 0.1%, to 20,488.19.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index drooped 105.58, or 0.4%, to 27,551.89.
Online retailer Rakuten dived 6.2% on its plan to issue new shares to raise about 188 billion yen ($1.5 billion U.S.) and to use 90% of the proceeds for debt repayment.
CHINA
China's stock market went on a dramatic roller-coaster ride on Thursday, with an after-lunch meltdown spurring a wave of fresh buying that produced gains for the day instead of a sharp loss.
The Shanghai CSI 300 picked up 37.34 points, or 0.7%, to 5,181.98
The wild swing - at one point 3.4 trillion yuan ($548 billion U.S.) of market capitalization had been wiped out - came one week after the market plunged more than 6%.
And it underscored increasing volatility in the high-flying, and highly-leveraged, China market.
Small-sized brokerage Golden Sun Securities said on Thursday that to control risks, it would suspend margin financing for purchases of ChiNext shares.
The announcement came a day after Industrial Securities suspended lending to clients to buy shares in certain stocks, triggering fears that the trend of "deleverage" will accelerate amid tighter regulatory scrutiny.
Bank of Communications jumped amid talk its shareholder-restructuring proposal could be approved within weeks. The lender issued a statement at midday saying there is no significant progress that requires disclosure.
Shares of Shenzhen-listed BYD Co Ltd , the electric carmaker backed by Warren Buffett, surged in both markets, after it proposed raising over 15 billion yuan through fresh share sales in China.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 9.70 points, or 0.5%, to 2,072.86
In Taiwan, the Taiex plummeted 207.89 points, or 2.2%, to 9,348.63
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 4.84 points, or 0.1%, to 3,345
The NZX 50 eked up 6.74 points, or 0.1%, to 5,865.44
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 skidded 79.28 points, or 0.9%, to 5,504.30
.
