Japanese stocks ended relatively unchanged on Thursday as investors played it cautious before the European Central Bank's policy decision later in the day.
The Nikkei 225 index inched up 1.77 points to 19.939.90, after a small decline in the morning session was wiped out with help from a softer yen.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dipped 62.68 points, or 0.3%, to 22,417.01
The U.S. dollar advanced following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, pointing up the likelihood of an interest rate hike later this month. The ECB, on the other hand, is expected to deliver stimulus measures when it meets Thursday.
Japanese blue-chip companies closed mixed with shares in Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba losing between 0.7% and 1%. Market heavyweight Fast Retailing was down 1.6%
In Hong Kong, IT and consumer goods were among the few sub-indexes that ended the session in positive territory on Thursday.
Geely Auto lost more than 1%, as investors were not encouraged by the Chinese carmaker's plan to launch a high-end car rental and ride-hailing app to compete with the likes of Uber.
Revised data from the Bank of Korea showed the economy grew a seasonally adjusted 1.3% on-quarter between July and September.
Blue-chip and tech shares in Korea traded lower. Shares in Samsung Electronics were off 0.8%, steel manufacturer Posco trailed Wednesday’s close 0.9% while Hyundai Motor closed 0.7% higher.
In Australia, miners took a hit after iron ore prices fell to a 10-year low, hitting the $40-U.S.-a-tonne mark. Shares in Fortescue, BC Iron, and Mount Gibson slid between 2.2% and 4%
The country's two biggest miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, also lost between 1.9% and 2.9%.
CHINA
Speculation of additional stimulus measures from Beijing to prop up China's slowing property market sent property and banking and finance shares soaring in late afternoon trade on Thursday.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai added 27.34 points, or 0.7%, to 3,749.30,
Finance stocks traded mixed, with shares in Huatai Security seeing gains of 3%.
Banks also closed firmly up, with gains over 3% while Chinese properties, such as Vanke, closed 5% up and China Merchant 6.6% higher.
A survey released this morning showed a cooling in China's services sector. The Caixin Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), focusing on smaller and medium-sized companies, dropped to 51.2 in November from 52 the month before. The official services PMI, which was out on Tuesday, showed a rise to 53.6 from 53.1 in October. Any reading above 50 implies growth.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index nicked 0.25 points to 2,883.89
The Kospi index in Korea dropped 15.22 points, or 0.8%, to 1,994.07
Taiwan’s Taiex index eased 1.34 points to 8,456.06
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 17.64 points, or 0.3%, to 6,125.67
The ASX 200 ditched 30.62 points, or 0.6%, to 5,227.72
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