Japanese stocks were flat in thin, directionless trade on Tuesday as many investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the market's close for a national holiday on Wednesday.
The Nikkei 225 index dropped 29.32 points, or 0.2%, to 18,886.70
Hong Kong stocks were little changed on Tuesday as trading activities started to wind down for the Christmas holiday break.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 38.34 points, or 0.2%, to 21,830.02
Japan Airlines Co Ltd rose 2.7% while competitor ANA Holdings Inc added 1.7%
In the construction sector, Sekisui House Ltd climbed 2.2% after Barclays raised its target price to 2,500 yen from 2,100 yen.
Taisei Corp added to the gains, rising 1.6% after a design submitted by a Taisei-led consortium was chosen as the New National Stadium and centerpiece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Among declining shares, McDonald's Japan dropped 7.9% after the Nikkei business daily reported Monday that the U.S. parent is considering selling a stake in the Japanese business.
Toshiba plunged 12.3%, extending Monday's 9.8% drop. After the market close Monday, Toshiba said it expects to post a fiscal year net loss of 550 billion yen ($4.54 billion U.S.), larger than a Dow Jones report over the weekend which cited people close to the matter as saying the loss would be around 500 billion yen.
Other big electronics exporters were also lower, with Sony down 1%, Panasonic off 0.7% and Sharp tumbling 2.5%.
In Hong Kong, although oil prices reached fresh 11-year lows, oil major PetroChina was little changed, while Sinopec managed to end the session up nearly 1%.
Banks were mixed, with China Construction Bank's Hong Kong-listed shares down 0.2%, while its mainland-listed ones were down 0.7%. But the Hong Kong-listed shares of Agricultural Bank of Chinarose 0.3%, while its mainland-listed shares were flat.
Australia's shares rose, supported as some energy shares continued a counter-intuitive rally for a second day despite oil prices' unending pain.
LNG player Santos rose 3.1%, perhaps getting a sentiment boost from expectations that the U.S. may be facing a cold January after an unseasonably warm December limited demand for natural gas; in the U.S. overnight, natural gas futures were more than 8% higher.
Moreover, Dow Jones reported that Chevron has lined up a Chinese buyer for LNG from its Australian project, suggesting continuing demand.
Another LNG player, LNG ended down 2.7% after tacking on 8.8% on Monday.
South Korea's shares reversed early losses to close higher in thin trade, as heavyweight Samsung Electronics tacked on 0.9%.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai pointed upward 10.77 points, or 0.3%, to 3,876.73
Select China property plays were mixed, with Hong Kong-listed China Overseas Land flat, Greentown China down 0.8% and Evergrande adding 1.3%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index restored 7.42 points, or 0.3%, to 2,852.97
The Kospi index in Korea gained 11.37 points, or 0.6%, to 1,992.56
Taiwan’s Taiex index picked up 10.57 points, or 0.1%, to 8,292.74
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 27.15 points, or 0.4%, to 6,147.97
The ASX 200 moved up 7.64 points, or 0.2%, to 5,116.69
