Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with the Nikkei climbing despite shares of heavily weighted SoftBank tumbling around 10% after its $32-billion U.S. bid for a British chip firm.
The Nikkei 225 returned from a long weekend to rally 225.46 points, or 1.4%, to a six-week high of 16,723.31, with stocks receiving a boost from a relatively weaker yen.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index settled 129.98 points, or 0.6%, to 21,673.20
The broader benchmark shrugged off the sell-off in internet and telecommunications giant SoftBank, buoyed by advances in other heavily-weighted stocks including Fast Retailing, up 3.2%, and Fanuc adding 1.7%
SoftBank shares closed down 10.3% at 5,387 yen, as investors reacted to the company's announcement on Monday that it had agreed to acquire British semiconductor firm ARM Holdings in a deal worth $32 billion U.S.
In Japan, shares of Nintendo continued to climb, closing up 14.4% at 31,770 yen. The consumer electronics company has seen a sharp spike in its stock price, up nearly 121%, since the release of the wildly popular "Pokemon Go" game on July 6.
Tokyo-listed shares of messaging app Line, meanwhile, dropped 8.2%, following a successful dual-listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange last week. The Japanese float hadan opening price of 4,900 yen per share, 48% above its offer price of 3,300 yen, amid heavy buy orders on Friday.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.87 against the dollar, similar to levels on Monday afternoon local time. The yen weakened from two weeks ago, when it traded near 100, touching an earlier low of 106.32 on Tuesday.
In Singapore, train operator SMRT remained untraded on Tuesday. Multiple wire reports on Monday suggested the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek, might buy the remaining shares in SMRT it does not already own and take the company private. Both Temasek and SMRT said they would not comment on speculation.
Last week, SMRT announced it reached a deal to sell its infrastructure assets, including the trains, to Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) for an estimated value of 1.1 billion Singapore dollars
Australian shares edged down, as its materials sub-index dropped 1.8% as miners remained in focus as they release second-quarter production reports.
Major Australian miner Rio Tinto released its second-quarter production results before market open, showing that iron ore shipments from the Pilbara were up 6% on-year. Aluminum production rose 11% and copper production was up 5%
For 2016, Rio Tinto said it expected to ship around 330 million tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara, subject to weather conditions. The company added the delay in its autonomous railway system meant production from the Pilbara is expected to be between 330 and 340 million tonnes in 2017.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7511 U.S., coming off levels near $0.76 reached Monday afternoon Asia time.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 fell 13.79 points, or 0.4%, to 3,248.23
The Taiex Index in Taiwan hiked 26.66 points, or 0.3%, to 9,034.87
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index moved lower 9.22 points, or 0.3%, to 2,919.54
In Korea, the Kospi doffed 4.22 points, or 0.2%, to 2,016.89
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 48.88 points, or 0.7%, to 7,154.83
The ASX 200 dropped 7.21 points, or 0.1%, to 5,451.25
