Asian shares ended mixed Thursday as a weaker yen helped lift exporter stocks in Tokyo, while China-focused real-estate developers' stocks fell after Beijing ordered banks to conduct "stress tests" and tightened some lending requirements.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index regained 164.58 points, or 1.7%, to 9,653.92
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.84 points to 21,551.72
Japanese real-estate stocks were among the big movers in the afternoon session after data showed office vacancy rates in central Tokyo fell for the first time in more than two years.
Investors in Japan also seemed to take heart after upbeat U.S. private-sector jobs and non-manufacturing-sector reports helped Wall Street move higher Wednesday.
In Tokyo, auto makers ended higher after a brisk earnings report from Toyota . Shares of the world's biggest car maker by volume closed 0.5% higher. Those gains came after the company raised its full-year earnings forecast and posted its highest quarterly net profit in two years.
Optimism for the auto sector also pushed Nissan Motor up 2.8%, while Honda Motor rose 2.6%.
The softer yen helped lift export and technology stocks. Sony rose 2.6% higher and Canon gained 1.5%.
Panasonic lagged the broader market, rising just 0.2%, after the home-appliance maker said it is recalling 365,574 refrigerators in China due to a faulty freon valve.
In the Japanese real-estate sector, Mitsubishi Estate rose 5.5% and Mitsui Fudosan gained 5.7%.
In Hong Kong, Swire Pacific class A shares ended 0.1% lower after the company reported a more than fourfold rise in first-half net profit, boosted by gains from the revaluation of its investment properties.
Cathay Pacific Airways extended its gains from the previous session after posting a strong profit, with the stock up 4.8%. Cheung Kong (Holdings) was up 0.1%, while conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa said first-half earnings rose 12% on narrower losses from its 3G network business, while Cheung Kong's first-half profit rose 3.5%.
Hong Kong-listed developer China Overseas land & Investment fell 3.4% and Poly (Hong Kong) Investments Ltd. ended down 6.2%.
In Sydney, the materials and energy sectors were leading gains on strength in their respective U.S. peers. BHP Billiton was up 0.4%, and Rio Tinto added 0.2% ahead of its keenly awaited interim results.
The mining giant said after the market close Thursday its first-half net profit soared to $5.85 billion U.S., underpinned by rising metals prices and China's insatiable appetite for commodities. The result compared with a restated profit of $1.62 billion U.S. in the first half of 2009.
News Corp was up 5.3% in Sydney after it reported strong fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.
News Corp. is the parent of Dow Jones & Co., which includes The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and MarketWatch.
CHINA
Chinese property developers were pressured by reports the China's banking regulator had ordered lenders to conduct "stress tests" that would gauge the impact of a 50% decline in housing prices in cities that have seen sharp gains.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gave back 25.60 points, or 0.9%, to 2,850.83
The regulator also ordered banks to halt lending to purchases of third homes in some cities and tightened rules for such lending in other cities.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 4.89 points, or 0.2%, to 3,006.76
Korea’s Kospi index moved 5.40 points, or 0.3%, lower to 1,783.86
Taiwan’s Taiex Index tailed off 35.81 points, or 0.5%, to 7,936.85
New Zealand’s NZX index added 6.53 points, or 0.2%, to 3,044.67
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 24.40 points, or 0.5%, to 4,566.50
