Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a five-week closing low on Thursday as a sudden surge in the yen hit shares of exporters such as Fanuc and Honda Motor,
The Nikkei 225 index shed 254.52 points, or 1.3%, to 19,046.55
The yen posted its biggest gains in more than three months on Wednesday, hitting a one-month high of 121.075 to the U.S. dollar. The currency last registered at 121.66 on Thursday.
Hong Kong was weighed by continued weakness in energy and resource shares as global commodity prices fell.
The Hang Seng was down 99.15 points, or 0.5%, to 21,704.61
Major exporters including Toyota, Honda, Panasonic, and Sony all ended in the red .
Shares in index heavyweights Fast Retailing and robot-maker Fanucwere down over 2.5% while major banks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, and Mizuho Financial Group closed lower up to 0.9%.
Shares in Toshiba finished 0.7% higher after the Nikkei business daily reported the company, undergoing major restructuring since an accounting scandal earlier this year, would sell its TV businesses in some countries, including Indonesia. The report said Toshiba may also exit the Japanese TV market entirely. Toshiba said no formal decision had been made.
Retail shares traded mixed as South Korea's version of Black Friday continued. The K-Sale Day, which kicked off two weeks ago and will run for a total of 26 days, is a period where retailers offer huge discounts on products to clear inventories.
Shares in Shinsegae finished 0.8% higher, and Samsung C&T finished 0.7% higher. Lotte Shopping and Hyundai Department Store ended in negative territory.
Blue-chip companies such as Samsung Electronics gained 1.6% while Posco spiked 2.7%.
On Thursday the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the November unemployment rate in the country fell to 5.8%, or one-10th of a percentage point lower, from the month before.
The total number of jobs the economy created was 71,400, beating market expectations of a decline of more than 10,000. The majority of the jobs were created in non-mining sectors.
Major banking stocks trimmed morning losses but still ended in the red. Shares in ANZ down 0.9%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 1.9% Westpac down 2%, and the National Australia Bank traded 1.8% lower.
The central bank in New Zealand was the latest to cut rates, reducing its discount rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% as per expectations early this morning.
CHINA
The Chinese market lost momentum in late afternoon trade, shaving gains from early morning on the back of news of long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) reforms in the country.
The CSI 300 in Shanghai erased 12.85 points, or 0.4%, to 3,623.08,
The Wall Street Journal reported that in March 2016 Chinese regulators would introduce new rules for IPO listings. Companies could then list in the Shanghai and the Shenzhen composites under the new rules from May. The report said that right now about 670 companies were waiting for government approval to go public.
Brokerages saw noticeable buyer interest in early trade and finished the afternoon session in the green. Shares in Citic Securities closed up 0.22%, Huatai Securities up 0.8%, and China Merchants was up 1.1%. Banking shares, however, closed down as much as 0.9%.
In the morning, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate for the yuan at 6.423 per U.S. dollar, lower than Wednesday's rate. The spot rate is allowed to trade in a range of 2% above and below this fixed rate. The yuan traded lower at 6.437 against the dollar in the afternoon session.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index faded 12.73 points, or 0.4%, to 2,848.46
The Kospi index in Korea recovered 3.83 points, or 0.2%, to 1,952.07
Taiwan’s Taiex index dropped 13.45 points, or 0.2%, to 8,216.17
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 12.99 points, or 0.2%, to 6,040.56
The ASX 200 slipped 42.74 points, or 0.8%, to 5,037.72
