Japanese stocks lost ground Wednesday in the wake of a mixed lead from Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei 225 index in Japan slipped 112.08 points, or 0.8%, to 14,620.53
Industrial issues struggled, including construction-equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. as its shares slumped 1.2%. Shares of Tokyo Electron Ltd. were bid-only following the company's agreement to be acquired by Applied Materials Inc. in a deal that values the chip-equipment maker at $9.3 billion U.S. Stock in Advantest Corp., which produces testing systems for memory chips, rose 4% following the Tokyo Electron deal.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index regained 30.59 points, or 0.1%, to 23,209.63
Banking and telecom shares advanced, with ZTE Corp. shares up 1.7% as the company reportedly plans to increase U.S. handset sales by 60% this year. Casino stocks rose, with Sands China Ltd. up by 1.9% ahead of the Golden Week holiday.
But a 0.4% loss in shares of Hong Kong market heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC kept the Hang Seng's index gain in check.
In Australia, banking stocks were higher ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia's semi-annual Financial Stability Review, with shares of Westpac Banking Corp. gaining 0.9% and National Australia Bank Ltd. climbing 1.3%.
Among miners, shares of BHP Billiton Ltd. were up 0.4% following the company's annual review. Meanwhile, shares of David Jones Ltd. picked up 4.9%. The retailer reported a nearly 6% decline in full-year profit on a one-time charge.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 index lost 14.86 points, or 0.6%, to 2,429.03
Korea’s Kospi index dipped 9.04 points, or 0.5%, to 1,998.06
Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 15.22 points, or 0.2%, to 8,283.90
The Singapore Straits Times Index dropped 3.17 points, or 0.1%, to 3,208.58
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index hiked 54.14 points, or 1.2%, to 4,764.72
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 progressed 41.78 points, or 0.8%, to 5,275.94
