Asian equities ended lower on Wednesday as Japan and China released economic data.
The Nikkei 225 index lost 191.53 points, or 1%, to 19,301.07
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 101.37 points, or 0.5%, to 21,803.76
Japan posted two consecutive days of positive economic data. On Tuesday, the revised third-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, number showed the economy was not in technical recession as indicated by the preliminary data.
On Wednesday, October core machinery orders, a measure of capital spending in the economy, rose unexpectedly by 10.7% on-month, against a Reuters poll of economists that predicted a 1.5% decline. Core machinery orders rose 10.3% on-year, also beating expectations.
Manufacturing stocks traded lower despite positive economic data. Shares in Hitachi Construction were down 0.2% while Komatsu ended near 1% lower.
Japanese blue chips were mostly down, with shares in Sony and Mitsubishi Electric seeing losses of more than 1% each.
Shares in Lotte Shopping closed 2.9% higher after news broke that its parent company, Lotte Group, would consider listing its Japanese confectionery business in the Japan stock market.
South Korean blue chips traded mixed with shares in Samsung Electronics finishing near flat.
In Australia, the energy sector saw a bounce back, as shares in Santos was up 5.7%, Woodside Petroleum was up 0.5% and Oil Search traded 1% higher.
Gold stocks mostly were up, however, shares in Kingsgate closed the session with greater than 7.8% losses.
CHINA
Chinese markets traded mixed in the morning session after the People's Bank of China set the mid-point rate for the yuan at its lowest level in more than four years.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai gained 12.92 points, or 0.4%, to 3,635.94,
The yuan's mid-point was set at 6.414 per U.S. dollar, its lowest since August 2011, compared with 6.4078 on Tuesday. China's central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2% against the dollar relative to the official fixing rate.
The yuan traded lower at 6.423 against the U.S. dollar.
China also released its November inflation numbers. The country’s consumer price index was up 1.5% on the year, slightly beating expectations, while the producer price index was down 5.9% on the year, in line with estimates.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 14.84 points, or 0.5%, to 2,861.19
The Kospi index in Korea gave back 0.80 points to 1,948.24
Taiwan’s Taiex index demurred 114.24 points, or 1.4%, to 8,229.62
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 acquired 18.55 points, or 0.3%, to 6,053.55
The ASX 200 slipped 28.15 points, or 0.6%, to 5,080.45
