Profit-taking pulled the benchmark Japanese index down from a six-year high, while Hong Kong’s index notched its highest close this year.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index faded 65.25 points, or 0.4%, to 15,661.87, a day after closing at its highest level since December 2007. The session saw volatile trade in the dollar-yen pair, sending the greenback as high as 102.61 yen intraday but back to about ¥102.23 by the close of trade in Tokyo.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index regained 92.20 points, or 0.4% to 23,881.29, its highest close since April 2011, continuing a march higher it has made for the past three months.
Property issues were mixed after Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, said property sales are the worst in 13 years, hurting his business, according to an interview with Li published by Southern Metropolis Daily, based in Guangzhou.
Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd., owned by Li, fell 0.6% in Hong Kong trade. But shares of Hong Kong property developer Henderson Land Development Co. tacked on 0.3%, and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., edged up 0.1%.
Investors have piled into bets against the yen’s rise this month, taking another run at a trade that proved lucrative for some of the industry’s biggest money managers earlier this year. The Japanese currency is down nearly 4% this month, as expectations rise for the Bank of Japan to ramp up its monetary easing program.
Foreign investors have also stepped up bets on the Japanese stock market, scooping up about ¥2 trillion ($19.6 billion U.S.) of shares since the middle of November.
That’s the largest two-week buying spree since mid-April. It has helped send the benchmark Nikkei up 9.3% in November — its second-best performance of the year after April’s 12% surge. The index has rallied more than 50% so far this year.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index dipped 0.59 points to 2,438.94
Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.90 points to 2,044.87
Taiwan’s Taiex Index gained 44.40 points, or 0.5%, to 8,406.83
The Singapore Straits Times Index docked 10.02 points, or 0.3%, to 3,176.35
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 14.51 points, or 0.3%, to 4,794.95
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 let go of 14.29 points, or 0.3%, to 5,320.05
