Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with Hong Kong stocks lifted again by local property issues such as Sun Hung Kai on hopes of a boom in residential prices, while Australian shares gained on resource firms such as Woodside Petroleum and BHP Billiton as crude oil neared the $100-a-barrel milestone.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average ended 0.9 percent lower at 16,096.68, after rising as high as 16,326.58 earlier in the day. The broader Topix index lost 1.1 percent at 1,556.69.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose for a second day, 0.9 percent higher at 29,708.93, but couldn't stay above the psychologically important 30,000-point level. The 43-issue Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.4% to 18,552.13.
In Sydney, shares of Woodside Petroleum gained 3.4 percent and BHP Billiton stock climbed 1.6 percent, while refining major Reliance Industries' shares soared 4.9 percent in Mumbai.
In Hong Kong, shares of oil and gas producer Cnooc rose 3 percent, while refining major China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec, advanced 2.7 percent.
In Tokyo, shares of Toyota Motor Co. advanced 0.9 percent before the company's July-September period earnings report was released at the end of trading hours. The automobile giant reported 21 percent growth in net income for the half-year from a year ago, and raised its volume sales, revenue, operating-profit and net-income forecasts for the full year.
Meanwhile, shares of mobile and Internet-services firm Softbank Corp. rose 1.6 percent after it reported after trading ended Tuesday that its fiscal first-half net income tripled.
ELSEWHERE:
JAKARTA: Indonesia's Jakarta Composite added 0.8 percent to 2,703.71.
MUMBAI: India's Sensex rose 0.5 percent to 19,495.57.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 percent at 2,043.16.
SHANGHAI: China's Shanghai Composite added 1.2 percent at 5,601.78.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index declined 0.3 percent to 3,671.71.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1 percent to 6,692.40.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted index gained 0.1 percent at 9,300.22.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's NZX 50 index jumped 1.7 percent to 4,205.58.
with files from other wire services
