Asian shares were mixed Thursday, with Samsung Electronics extending losses in reaction to what appeared to be a botched recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
The Nikkei 225 Index took on 164.67 points, or 1%, to 17,024.76, as the yen moved lower.
The U.S. dollar/yen was up 0.3% at 103.87, from 102 levels last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index collapsed 302.3 points, or 1.3%, to 23,549.52
Samsung plunged 8% to 1,545,000 won ($1,380.40 U.S.) a share after news that the South Korean tech giant asked its global partners to stop all sales and exchanges of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and advised users to switch their phones off.
There were reports at the weekend that devices given to customers to replace their fire-prone phones were also catching fire, and Samsung said on Monday that it had adjusted shipment volumes on Note 7s so it could focus on quality control.
Japanese airbag maker Takata fell 7.5% after Wall Street Journal reported late last week that the embattled firm was considering a U.S. bankruptcy filing in order to clear a path for an external investor to rescue the company.
Australia's materials sector climbed 0.9% and major miners were also higher; BHP Billiton clocked a 1.7% gain, Rio Tinto rose 2.1% and Fortescue Metals Group was up 3%
This was likely due to iron ore and steel futures in China bouncing back from multi-week lows on Monday, on hopes that Beijing would not curb property purchases, Reuters reported.
Business conditions in Australia also picked up in September, as companies reported higher sales, profits and a rise in forward orders, according to National Australia Bank's monthly survey.
In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it had ordered Swiss wealth management firm Falcon Private Bank to cease operations in Singapore, over lapses in the way it managed funds connected to the troubled Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB.
The city-state's central bank had ordered the shutdown of another Swiss private bank, BSI, in May over similar braches, and recently charged people connected to the 1MDB probe. On Tuesday it also imposed fines on DBS Bank and UBS' Singapore branch for breaching anti-money laundering regulations.
Shares in major Singaporean banks fell in reaction to the news; DBS Bank was down 0.5%, OCBC Bank dipped 0.34%, while United Overseas Bank slipped 0.2%
Oil majors in the region were higher; Australia's Santos surged 4% while Oil Search was up 3.4%, Japan's Inpex climbed 3.2%, and South Korea's S-Oil was up 3.4%
Meanwhile, comments from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand about the need for further policy easing drove the New Zealand dollar down 0.8% to $0.7076 against the greenback, and drove the Australian dollar to $0.7561 U.S.
The Korean won had briefly fallen to as low as 1,120.43 per U.S. dollar, but was trading up to 1,119.15 won as of
In other markets
The CSI 300 gained 12.69 points, or 0.4%, to 3,306.56
In Korea, the Kospi fell 24.89 points, or 1.2%, to 2,031.93
The Straits Times Index in Singapore backed off 14.11 points, or 0.5%, to 2,856.13
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index slid 45.99 points, or 0.5%, to 9,219.82
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained 7.31 points, or 0.1%, to 7,124.23
In Australia, the ASX 200 eked higher 4.37 points, or 0.1%, to 5,479.80
