South Korean and Hong Kong stocks dropped Wednesday as investors awaited details of discussions at the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting to gauge when the U.S. central bank might pare its bond purchases.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 regained 27.95 points, or 0.2%, to 13,424.33
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped another 152.56 points, or 0.7%, to 21,817.73
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July meeting are due to be released at 2 pm U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. tumbled 9.3% in Tokyo following media reports that a leak of about 300 metric tons (660,000 pounds) of highly radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant would prompt the government to declare the incident as "serious."
Shares of Cnooc Ltd. jumped 5% in Hong Kong after its profit rose 7.9% in the first half of the year, driven by increased oil and gas output.
In Sydney, shares of BHP Billiton Ltd. fell 2.2% after the mining giant reported a 30% drop in profit for the fiscal year ended June 30 amid subdued commodity prices.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. shed 1.6% after the energy producer cut its projection for full-year output, even as it posted a 7.5% increase in profit for the first half of the year.
In other markets;
Markets in Taiwan were shuttered for a holiday
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 faltered 3.88 points, or 0.2%, to 2,308.59
Korea’s Kospi Index dipped 20.39 points, or 1.1%, to 1,867.46
The Singapore Straits Times Index gave back 19.76 points, or 0.6%, to 3,108.99
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index gained 43.15 points, or 1%, to 4,551.51
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 improved 21.81 points, or 0.4%, to 5,099.99
