After spending most of the day deep in negative territory, Japanese stocks swung upward in the afternoon to end with only mild losses, while other Asia markets also retreated.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 28.30 points, or 0.2%, to 13,289.32, as the U.S. dollar rebounded against the yen.
Markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China remained shuttered Wednesday for holidays.
Japan had led the losses for Asia after the dollar fell by almost two full yen overnight to ¥96.22, having bought more than ¥98 at Tuesday’s Japan stock close.
But the dollar staged a modest rebound during the East Asian afternoon, hitting ¥96.77 by the time Tokyo closed for trading.
The dollar’s drop followed the Bank of Japan’s policy decision Tuesday, which contained no new easing moves.
The dollar traded above ¥100 early last week but has remained below that level since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a slew of economic reforms — referred to as the “third arrow” of his three-pronged push to revive the nation’s fortunes, along with fiscal stimulus and monetary easing.
But the yen’s move back lower late Wednesday helped send some Japanese exporter shares swinging back to gains, with Nikon Corp. up 1.7%, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. rallying 3.5%.
Still, many major names were unable to fully recover, with Sony Corp. finishing down 1.1%, Renesas Electronics Corp. losing 2.4%, Toyota Motor Corp. off 1.8%, and Nissan Motor Co. surrendering 2.3%.
Hitachi Ltd. ended on an up note, however, rising 1.1% after a Nikkei news report that the conglomerate had secured an order to supply trains for a light-rail project in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.
Panasonic Corp. added 1.6% after a separate Nikkei report that China’s Huawei Technologies Co. would double by value its procurement of parts from Japan over the next several years, with Panasonic as one of the beneficiaries.
In Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lost 1.8%, Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. closed 2.5% lower, and Resona Holdings Inc. pulled back 3.2%.
Similarly, many Australian banks saw selling, with National Australia Bank Ltd., Westpac Banking Corp. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group dropping 1.2% apiece.
Mining stocks also took a toll on the Sydney market after a decline in many commodity prices, with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. down 3.2%, BHP Billiton Ltd. slipping 0.4%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. finishing down 0.8% after the gold producer told Australia’s securities exchange that it didn’t break any share-listing rules related to the timing of the company’s recent restructuring announcement.
Early weakness in Australia briefly sent the S&P/ASX 200 into a technical correction, defined as a 10% drop from the most recent high.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics Co. slipped 0.3%, after its shares dropped 2.5% Tuesday amid concerns over sales for its new Galaxy S4 smartphone.
In other markets;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index erased 16.90 points, or 0.5%, to 3,153.48
Korea’s Kospi Index docked 10.77 points, or 0.6%, to 1,920.68
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index subtracted 21.45 points, or 0.5%, to 4,442.13
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 doffed 32.61 points, or 0.7%, to 4,724.45.
