Asian shares gained as Japanese shares retreated.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 80.63 points, or 0.5%, to 14,970.90
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong grew 120.24 points, or 0.5%, to 22,437.44
BHP Billiton fell 1.3% as mining shares posted the largest fall among the 10 industry groups in the region.
SoftBank Corp. lost 1.3% after jumping 4.1% yesterday.
Panasonic Corp., which is pivoting away from consumer electronics, jumped 5.3% in Tokyo on a report it’s in talks with Tesla Motors Inc. to build a U.S. plant to produce batteries for electric cars.
WorleyParsons surged 11% to A$17.13 as the firm reaffirmed its outlook for the remainder of 2014 and reported a larger-than-forecast interim dividend.
Lend Lease Group fell 3.7% to A$11.14 in Sydney after Australia’s biggest listed property developer reported a 16% drop in first-half profit.
CHINA
Markets in China halted a four-day losing streak during which it led declines among global equity indexes.
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index moved up 5.50 points, or 0.3%, to 2,163.41
Benchmark money-market rates fell to a seven-month low as central bank efforts to weaken the yuan boosted the supply of cash in the financial system.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 25.24 points, or 0.3%, to 8,600.86
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 15.37 points, or 0.5%, to 3,088.25
Korea’s Kospi Index gained 5.91 points, or 0.3%, to 1,970.77
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index regained 5.69 points, or 0.1%, to 4,973.20
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 regained 3.15 points, or 0.1%, to 5,436.99
