Japanese stocks edged down in thin trade on Wednesday as investors avoided investing in cyclical shares before big market events this week such as the European Central Bank's policy meeting and the release of U.S. jobs data.
The Nikkei 225 index scaled back 74.27 points, or 0.4%, to 19.938.13,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 98.34 points, or 0.4%, to 22,479.69.
But gains in the city-state were capped by downbeat U.S. manufacturing data which raised questions about the U.S. economy and the pace of expected interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.
Property and financial shares strengthened but energy and technology stocks sagged.
Shares of VTech Holdings Ltd lost nearly 2% after the digital toymaker said a cyber attack on the company exposed the data of 6.4 million children, in what experts called the largest known hack targeting youngsters.
Property stocks made strong gains both on the mainland and in Hong Kong. Shares in Vanke and Poly Real Estate closed 10% higher; shares in China Resources Land were up 3.3% and Longfor Properties were up 1.8%, both listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Shares in HSBC were up 0.4% and Standard Chartered down 0.7%
In Japan, shares in Sharp closed 3.2% higher, trimming gains from the morning session. Japanese state-backed fund Innovation Network Corporation of Japan said it was considering buying a majority stake in Sharp, according to a report by Yomiuri newspaper. The deal was estimated to be worth 200 billion yen ($1.63 billion U.S).
Japanese automakers traded mixed, most shares trimming early gains to trade flat or in the red. Shares in Toyota closed 0.8% higher after the international automaker received a boost in investor confidence from higher auto sales in the U.S.
In Korea, blue chips were down across the board as shares in Samsung Electronics Kepco, and KB Financial Group saw the biggest losses, ranging between 1.4% and 2%
CHINA
Chinese markets rallied Wednesday on speculation that Beijing was about to announce a new incentive to boost the country's sagging property market.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai climbed 130.26 points, or 3.6%, to 3,721.96,
Chinese brokerages and banks also rallied strongly - Citic Securities was up 6%, Haitong Securities up 5.2%, and Huatai Securities up 6.1%
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index improved 13.38 points, or 0.5%, to 2,883.64
The Kospi index in Korea let go of 14.64 points, or 0.7%, to 2,009.29
Taiwan’s Taiex index eased 5.9 points, or 0.1%, to 8,457.40
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 7.37 points, or 0.1%, to 6,143.31
The ASX 200 ditched 7.8 points, or 0.2%, to 5,258.34
.
