Stocks in Japan rose Thursday as Haruhiko Kuroda and his team moved one step closer to control at the Bank of Japan, while the dollar touched a five-month high against the South Korean won.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index boosted 141.53 points, or 1.2%, to 12,381.19, as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index reversed course and moved higher by 62.53 points, or 0.3%, to 22,619.18, after two straight days of heavy losses.
Notable moves in Tokyo included Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of stores, which gained 2.5%. Real estate developers also made gains: Mitsubishi Estate gained 5% and Mitsui Fudosan climbed 5.3%.
HSBC and Standard Chartered, Hong Kong's second and fourth largest lenders of home loans, increased the cost of borrowing on their mortgages, triggering declines in property developers: Cheung Kong (Holdings) fell 0.9%, while Sun Hung Kai Properties dropped 3.3%.
Australian stocks were under pressure as resources stocks weighed on the market. Larger miners fell after the price of key commodities such as iron and copper fell overnight. Rio Tinto lost 2.3% and Fortescue Metals Group was 6.2% down.
On the plus side for Australia, the economy added 71,500 jobs in February, much higher than expectations for the addition of 10,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.4% compared with forecasts for a rise to 5.5%.
The strong employment data had no lasting impact on the stock market, but it did have an effect on the Australian dollar, which moved higher on the strong employment data and was at $1.0345 U.S. late in Asia, compared with $1.0307 U.S. before the announcement.
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 Composite 300 index gained 6.79 points, or 0.3%, to 2,534.27, snapping a five-day losing streak brought about by worries about China's economic recovery and Beijing's renewed efforts to control the property market.
In Korea, the Kospi Index inched ahead 2.40 points, or 0.1%, to 2,002.13
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index descended 43.75 points, or 0.6%, to 7,951.76
The Singapore Straits Times Index doffed 9.02 points, or 0.3%, to 3,279.50
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 index recovered 39.95 points, or 0.9%, to 4,381.10
In Australia, the S&P/ASX sank 60.18 points, or 1.2%, to 5,032.22
