Japan's Nikkei average rose, driven by gains in Toyota Motor Corp after the automaker lifted its earnings guidance, while companies that have been battered after disappointing earnings also bounced.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index spiked 111.94 points, or 0.8%, to 14,337.31. But the benchmark is still down 3.1% from a three-week high touched on Oct. 23.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index docked 2.01 points to 23,036.94
Toyota bounced from morning losses, advancing 0.5% after public broadcaster NHK said the car maker would raise its operating profit forecast to 2.2 trillion yen ($22.3 billion U.S.) from its previous estimate of 1.94 trillion yen.
The automaker confirmed the revised forecast after the market close.
Peer Nissan Motor Co Ltd rose 2.8%, recouping some of the previous session's 10.4% slump after it cut its annual earnings guidance, facing a slowdown in emerging markets and quality issues.
Industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp gained 1.5%, on track to snap a five-day losing streak after its quarterly orders disappointed investors.
But mobile operator SoftBank Corp, an index heavyweight, was down 2.1%, giving up some of the 5.6% rally in the previous two sessions on the back of its strong first-half earnings.
Fast Retailing Co Ltd, the second top-weighted loser after SoftBank, eased 0.8% after it said same-store sales at its Uniqlo causal clothing chain in Japan fell 13.8% last month because of warmer-than-usual temperatures and typhoons that discouraged shoppers.
In Australia, shares of Origin Energy Ltd. lost 1.6%, Santos Ltd. and Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. fell 0.9% each, and WorleyParsons Ltd. gave up 1.1%.
Losses for U.S. financials Tuesday helped push bank stocks lower in Sydney, as National Australia Bank Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp. each traded 0.8% lower, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group slipped 0.4%, but Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.5% after posting higher quarterly revenue and profit.
On the upside, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. rose 1.8%, helped in part by a UBS upgrade to buy from neutral, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index fell 30.20 points, or 1.3%, to 2,353.57
Korea’s Kospi Index lost 0.26 points to 2,013.67
Taiwan’s Taiex Index upped 19.77 points, or 0.2%, to 8,281.97
The Singapore Straits Times Index doffed 0.25 points to 3,205.29
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 5.86 points, or 0.1%, to 4,944.57
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.84 points to 5,433.81
