Stocks in Asia Pacific were little changed on Wednesday as caution remained over a recent resurgence in coronavirus cases in certain countries regionally as they start to reopen their economies.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 99.43 points, or 0.5%, to 20,267.05.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.07 per U.S. dollar, off levels above 107.4 seen yesterday.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slid 65.38 points, or 0.3%, to 24,180.30.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6476 following highs above $0.654 seen earlier in the trading week.
Developments on the coronavirus front likely continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Globally, more than 4.2 million people have been infected while at least 291,366 lives have been taken, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In Asia, where the coronavirus first hit, several countries including China and South Korea have experienced an uptick in cases after restrictions were eased.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 eked up 8.01 points, or 0.2%, to 3,968.25.
In Korea, the Kospi recovered 18.25 points, or 1%, to 1,940.42
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index ditched 15.8 points, or 0.6%, to 2,572.01
In Taiwan, the Taiex index restocked 58.5 points, or 0.5%, to 10,938.27.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 30.64 points, or 0.3%, to 10,788.03.
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 18.8 points, or 0.4%, to 5,421.85.
