Asian markets broad advances in volatile trading Tuesday, with indexes in Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore all ending at record highs, while benchmarks in Jakarta and Mumbai were on course to follow suit in late afternoon trading.
Japan's 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.6 percent lower at 17,092.49, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.4 percent to 1,657.80, after rising as high as 1,667.48 earlier in the session.
The Hang Seng Index declined 1.8 percent to end at 26,973.98, adding to Wednesday's 2.6 percent drop. The 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises index was hit harder, losing 3.4 percent at 16,727.05, a day after it tumbled 3.7 percent.
Japanese shares lost ground on declines in Sony Corp. and Advantest Corp. after U.S. technology stocks dropped overnight.
In Hong Kong, shares of oil and gas producer Cnooc sank 6.4 percent, and Aluminum Corp. of China stock dropped 3.9 percent, while Posco stock slumped 8.4 percent in Seoul.
Meanwhile, shares of Bank of Communications soared 12.6 percent on unconfirmed speculation that banking giant HSBC planned to raise its interest beyond the 19.9 percent it currently holds. HSBC's shares eased 0.1 percent.
ELSEWHERE:
JAKARTA: Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 0.9 percent to 2,546.61.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1 percent to end at a record 2,014.13.
MUMBAI: India's Sensex jumped 2.7 percent to 17,968.20.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index closed 1.2 percent higher at 3,865.75.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent to 6,677.80, registering its second straight record finish.
with files from other wire services
