Asian stocks ended mixed Thursday, a volatile session marked by Hong Kong finishing with modest gains although sharp gains in China-related issues such as Bank of Communications had pushed the main index beyond the 30,000-point level earlier.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average finished 0.9 percent higher at 17,106.09, while the broader Topix index added 1.1 percent to 1,617.75.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index broke past 30,000 within the first few minutes of trading, before volatility ensued. The index swung between a low of 29,265.47 and and a high of 30,025.07, ending 0.6 percent higher at 29,465.05.
The 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed 1 percent higher at 19,722.38.
China's Shanghai Composite was the day's worst performer, dropping 3.5 percent to 5,825.28, on fears that Beijing may continue to tighten monetary policy.
Financials and resource stocks led Hong Kong's push, with shares of Bank of Communications (BoCom) rising 7.1 percent and Aluminum Corp. of China adding 2.9 percent. HSBC, which holds an 18.6 percent stake in BoCom, saw its shares rise 0.3 percent.
Back in Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ's shares rose 2.3 percent, while Mizuho Financial increased 3.8 percent, recovering some of the ground lost during the previous two sessions.
Meanwhile, shares of Sony Corp. rose 0.6 percent before the company announced it reached a basic agreement to sell its high-performance Cell microprocessors to Toshiba Corp.
ELSEWHERE:
MUMBAI: India's Sensex index fell 1.9 percent to 18,359.18 in late afternoon, after wavering between a low of 18,355.75 and a record intraday high of 19,198.66.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi gained 1.1 percent to 2,005.09 after touching a low of 1,977.50 earlier in the day.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index fell 0.9 percent to 3,804.09.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted Index advanced 0.8 percent to 9,637.07.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3 percent to 6,767.70
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 0.2 percent to 4,313.15.
with files from other wire services
