Asia markets advanced on Thursday, with Japanese shares closing higher after wavering in the morning session as stocks came under pressure from a slightly stronger yen.
The Nikkei 225 recovered 171.78 points, or 1.1%, to 16,254.89
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 93.11 points, or 0.4%, to 21,832.23
In company news, shares of Rio Tinto closed down 1.6% erasing all of their near-1.8% gains from early trade, as investors digested poor first-half earnings reported on Wednesday after market close.
The miner said its first half underlying earnings dropped 47% to $1.56 billion U.S.. But Rio appeared to have surprised investors by announcing an interim dividend of 45 U.S. cents per share.
Hong Kong-listed shares of HSBC traded up 2.1% the afternoon, while Standard Chartered climbed 2.8% after both banks reported earnings on Wednesday.
HSBC, one of Britain's largest lenders, reported a near-29% on-year drop in first half pre-tax profits, while Standard Chartered posted a 19.8% on-year drop in its first-half underlying operating income, which came in at $6.81 billion U.S..
Japanese automaker Toyota reported earnings after the market closed on Thursday. Fiscal first-quarter profits fell by 15% to 642.23 billion yen ($6.33 billion U.S.), according to the car maker, with a stronger yen weighing on profits. For the full fiscal year 2017, Toyota expects profits to fall by 43.9% on-year to 1.6 trillion yen.
Toyota shares closed up 1.8%.
The Japanese yen was stronger against the U.S. dollar in the morning, trading as high as 100.84, before pulling back to a session low of 101.66. As of late afternoon, the currency pair traded at 101.54 U.S.
In Japan, Reuters reported that Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said a comprehensive review of the central bank's policies, due in September, would focus on the monetary transmission mechanism and obstacles to its stimulus plan succeeding.
Australian banks were in focus during the session, with the so-called Big Four finishing mixed. Shares of ANZ were 0.1% lower, Commonwealth Bank of Australia closed down 0.5% while Westpac and the National Australia Bank added 0.2% each.
Media reported that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the government would bring the biggest banks in the country before the parliament's economics committee each year to provide a full account of their affairs.
On Wednesday, Turnbull criticized the country's big banks for refusing to fully pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) 25 basis-point rate cut to customer
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 picked up 7.78 points, or 0.2%, to 3,201.29
The Taiex Index in Taiwan regained 23 points, or 0.3%, to 9,024.71
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recouped 4.38 points, or 0.2%, to 2,831.96
In Korea, the Kospi moved up 5.24 points, or 0.3%, to 2,000.03
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 took on 20.68 points, or 0.3%, to 7,298.08
The ASX 200 regained 10.09 points, or 0.2%, to 5,475.81
