Asia markets ended mixed on Thursday, with some markets partially retracing their advances following U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's cautious stance on the path of tightening earlier this week.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo continued its downward progress, dropping 120.29 points, or 0.7%, to 16,758.67.
For the January-March quarter, the index lost 12%
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index hesitated 26.69 points, or 0.1%, to 20,776.70. The index is off 5.2% for the January-March quarter.
The Japanese yen remained at the 112 handle against the dollar, with the dollar/yen pair trading at 112.32. Major exporters closed mixed, with Toyota down 0.8%, Nissan up by 0.1% and Honda higher by 3.1%.
In corporate news, on Wednesday after market close, Taiwan's Foxconn said it has agreed to acquire Japanese electronics maker Sharp. Reuters reported Foxconn will pay about $3.5 billion for a two-thirds stake, nearly $900 million U.S. less than its initial offer.
Shares of Sharp closed down 4.4%. Foxconn finished up 1.3%.
Shares of airbag maker Takata gained 5.8% Thursday, after dropping 19.5% on Wednesday. Bloomberg News reported that Takata estimates the cost of the comprehensive callback of its airbag inflators would amount to about 2.7 trillion yen ($24 billion U.S.).
Toshiba shares advanced 5.8%, after the company announced on Wednesday it finalized a deal to sell an 80.1% stake in its home appliances unit to China's Midea Group, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei. The deal is worth roughly 53.7 billion yen ($477 million U.S.).
Elsewhere, shares of Sun Corp. gained 7% on Thursday, finishing the January-March quarter up 64%. The stock climbed after reports suggested one of its subsidiaries - Israeli firm Cellebrite - has helped the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino, California shooters.
In Hong Kong, shares of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties soared, closing up 18.4%, after its parent company, Dalian Wanda Group, said it was looking to take the real estate arm private.
Energy plays in the region were mixed, with shares of Santos flat, Oil Search up 0.6% and Inpex adding 1.6%.
South Korean government data showed the country's industrial output rose 3.3% in February on-month, following a downwardly revised 2.1% fall in January. A survey of analysts had predicted a decline of 0.2% for February.
Samsung shares closed up 0.3%.
Australian markets were boosted by advances in the financials, energy and materials sub-indexes. The benchmark index was off 4% for the January-March quarter.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7653 U.S. Thursday evening local time, up from levels around $0.75 last week.
Australia's so-called Big Four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and NAB – advanced, some as much as 2.3%. They have lost ground recently amid concerns about potential losses related to their exposure to the resources sector.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 inched up 1.81 points, or 0.1%, to 3,218.09
Chinese mainland shares of Sinopec were down 2%, while PetroChina fell 0.7%
The Chinese yuan traded nearly flat against the greenback at 6.4670.
Before market open, the People's Bank of China fixed the yuan mid-point rate at 6.4612 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday's fix at 6.4841. China's central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2% against the U.S. dollar, relative to the official fixing rate.
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index faded 6.29 points, or 0.3%, to 1,995.85
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index added 7.79 points, or 0.1%, to 8,744.83
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index lost 31.88 points, or 1.1%, to 2,840.90
In Australia, the ASX 200 rallied 72.52 points, or 0.6%, to 5,082.79
New Zealand’s NZX 50 took on 38.26 points, or 0.6%, to 6,752.42
