Asian stocks ended mixed Wednesday, with Japanese shares advancing as technology and automobile exporters rose following strong earnings reports and U.S. industrial-production data that spurred a rebound on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index regained 78.86 points, or 0.9%, to 9,240.54, after falling to a nine-month low Tuesday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index stumbled 114.70 points, or 0.5%, to 21,022.73
BHP Billiton tumbled, however, and put pressure on the broad market in Sydney after a higher opening, as Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan rejected the mining giant's unsolicited acquisition bid.
And profit-taking in recent gainers such as Hutchison Whampoa dragged on Hong Kong, offsetting upbeat sentiment toward property developers after a pair of land auctions in the city attracted strong demand.
BHP Billiton fell 4.4% in Sydney. With the board of Potash Corp. having rejected its $38.6-billion U.S. offer, the suitor vowed to take its bid directly to the company's shareholders.
Other mining stocks rose in Sydney as investors switched into them, with Rio Tinto rising 2.8% and Fortescue Metals Group climbing 2.6%.
Agricultural companies also rallied on the bid for Potash, with GrainCorp rising 4.3%. On a related note, AWB climbed 0.7% to 1.45 Australian dollars ($1.31 U.S.), shy of the A$1.50-a-share offer unveiled by Canada-based fertilizer company Agrium on Monday.
In Tokyo, stocks rose on the back of gains on Wall Street.
Nintendo rose 4.3% and Nissan Motor Co. advanced 2.8%, also helped by the Japanese yen's fall against the euro and the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.
Shares of Hamamatsu Photonics gained 6.4%, bid higher after it was added to the MSCI World Index, while Nidec rose 3.8% on news it will acquire the motors and controls unit of U.S.-based Emerson.
Property developers in Hong Kong were mixed, with profit-taking erasing some early gains that were driven by a government land auction of two prime sites achieving higher-than-expected sale prices on Tuesday.
Cheung Kong rose 0.1% after it won two auctions, easing worries about the property market outlook after authorities recently tightened mortgage lending rules. Sun Hung Kai Properties climbed 0.5% as Henderson Land Development rose 0.9%.
Shares of Hutchison Whampoa dropped 2.5%. The conglomerate's stock is still up nearly 19% this month, after posting strong interim results.
In foreign-exchange markets, the euro was at $1.2898 U.S., compared with $1.2879 U.S. in late New York trading Tuesday, and at 109.89 yen from 110.12 yen. The dollar was at 85.18 yen from 85.50 yen.
CHINA
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index eased 4.93 points, or 0.2%, to 2,937.36
China Everbright Bank shares made a strong debut to finish the day up 18% at 3.66 yuan (54 U.S. cents), compared with its initial public offering price of 3.10 yuan.
Everbright has raised 18.9 billion yuan, and could raise another 2.8 billion yuan if the over-allotment option is fully exercised. The IPO is China's second largest this year after Agricultural Bank of China went public last month
Analysts said Everbright's gains weren't sustainable over the near term, though, as market conditions may become unfavorable.
Several banks and property developers declined on mainland exchanges, with China Construction Bank losing 0.8% and Gemdale falling 2.3%.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 3.99 points or 0.1%, to 2,919.37
Korea’s Kospi index picked up 6.96 points, or 0.4%, to 1,761.99
Taiwan’s Taiex Index subtracted 6.99 points, or 0.09%, to 7,924.10
New Zealand’s NZX index picked up 11.64 points, or 0.4%, to 3,018.18
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lopped off 2.10 points to 4,474.90
