Asian markets were mixed on Thursday after seesawing following soft Chinese trade data.
The Nikkei 225 Index retreated 65.76 points, or 0.4%, to 16,774.24
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index backtracked 375.75 points, or 1.6%, to 23,031.30
The yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar, trading at 103.79 as of late afternoon, compared to levels above 104 earlier.
On the Nikkei, Sony shares rose by 1.3%, after the Japanese electronics maker launched the PlayStation VR (PS VR).
Suzuki Motor surged 2.2% while Toyota was up 0.2% after the two automakers announced on Tuesday that they would explore a partnership, which gave both automakers stocks a boost.
Australian markets were down, weighed by weaknesses in its energy sub-index, which fell 2%, and a 1.1% decline in its heavily-weighted financials sub-index.
Shares of Samsung Electronic were up 1.4%.
On Wednesday, Samsung cut its third-quarter operating profit guidance by 33% to 5.2 trillion won ($4.66 billion U.S.), which reflected the impact of the Galaxy Note 7 recalls. On Tuesday, Samsung had announced it would halt sales and production of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7.
The Bank of Korea held interest rates steady at 1.25% for the fourth consecutive month, on concerns about rising household debt. The Korean won weakened against the dollar, trading at 1,134.60 won as of late afternoon The dollar/won was trading at levels below 1,120 last week.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese markets shrugged off figures showing steeper-than-expected declines in China's dollar-denominated exports in September and an unexpected drop in imports.
The CSI 300 inched up 2.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,302.65
China's exports tumbled nearly 10% year-on-year in dollar-terms, and imports dipped 1.9% from the previous year. In yuan terms, exports fell 5.6% on-year, while imports rose 2.2%.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi dumped 18.29 points, or 0.9%, to 2,015.44
The Straits Times Index in Singapore slid 8.23 points, or 0.3%, to 2,805.48
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index slumped 33.43 points, or 0.4%, to 9,219.17
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 12.6 points, or 0.2%, to 7,120.05
In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 39.07 points, or 0.7%, to 5,435.54
