Stocks in Japan edged up for a third straight day on Wednesday but pared earlier gains as the yen firmed against the U.S. dollar, obscuring the profit outlook for exporters.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 inched higher 13.82 points, or 0.1%, to 16,579.01
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 187.39 points, or 0.9%, to 20,055.29
SoftBank ended the day up 1.9%, after surging nearly 5% at one point following a strong earnings report.
Semiconductor and flat panel display company Screen Holdings ended the day 4.9% higher after its operating profit rose 37% for the full-year through March 2016.
Social network operator Mixi Inc also outperformed, soaring 11.9% after announcing it would spend up to 10 billion yen ($92.03 million U.S.) to buy back up to three million of its shares, a 3.5% stake.
Toyota released its full fiscal year 2016 financial numbers, after the Japanese stock market closed. The automaker saw net income for fiscal 2016 rise 6.4% to 2.31 trillion yen ($21.26 billion U.S.) and said it expects a 35% drop in net income for fiscal 2017.
The Japanese yen gained fresh strength against the U.S. dollar, after weakening in the U.S. session. The dollar/yen pair traded at 108.71, compared to the 109 level in early trade and closing at 109.25 on Tuesday.
The overnight move in the dollar/yen pair came after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso hinted at the possibility of an intervention in the currency market to tame the rise in yen.
Energy plays in Asia ended mixed, with Santos adding 0.7%, Woodside Petroleum flat and Inpex higher by 0.8%.
Shares of Rio Tinto closed up 1.3%, Fortescue up 2.1% and BHP Billiton adding 4%
One of Australia's large grain storage companies,GrainCorp, announced its half-year profit numbers on Wednesday, with net profit at 20 million Australian dollars ($14.7 million U.S.) for the period, with the company saying global trading conditions will continue to weigh on the Australian grains sector in the near term.
Shares of GrainCorp closed down 2%.
CHINA
The CSI 300 Index forged higher 13.7 points, or 0.5%, to 3,082.51.
Chinese energy plays closed mixed, with shares of Sinopec down 0.5% and PetroChina up 0.6%.
Chinese metal stocks were mostly lower, with Aluminium Corp down 0.8% and Yunnan Copper down 0.3%.
Strong March data had raised hopes that China's economy was bottoming out from a prolonged slump -- possibly allowing the People's Bank of China to be more cautious about additional policy easing this year. But mixed April data so far, weak factory surveys and surging debt levels have fueled doubts about whether the recovery has legs
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi Index slid 2.4 points, or 0.1%, to 1,980.10
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index erased 8.28 points, or 0.3%, to 2,732.87
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index slumped 20.73 points, or 0.3%, to 8,135.56
New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 34.94 points, or 0.5%, to 6,944.34
The ASX 200 added 29.51 points, or 0.6%, to 5,372.29
