Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday, with Australia's benchmark pressured after oil weakened and BHP Billiton vowed to keep up the fight for Rio Tinto, while Japan's leading indexes dipping into the red led by Fast Retailing and other domestic consumption stocks.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Average ended 0.5 percent lower at 15,153 and the Topix index eased 0.2 percent at 1,475.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.6 percent higher at 27,371. The Hang Seng China Enterprises added 0.5 percent at 16,362.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. fell 1.6 percent, while Honda Motor Corp. fell 1.6 percent.
Other Japanese exporters traded on more a positive note, with Sony Corp. climbing 3.3 percent and Canon Inc rising 1.3 percent.
Shares of Sanyo Electric Co. climbed 2.1 percent, adding to a 8.5 percent rise Tuesday after the consumer electronics giant reported it had swung from a fiscal first-half profit from a year-earlier loss and affirmed its outlook for the year.
Shares of Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Ltd., China's largest heavy truck maker, ended at HK$10.86, 16 percent below their offer price of HK$12.88 in debut trading in Hong Kong, marking the worst performing IPO this year.
Sintrans Shipping, which debuted Friday, fell 13 percent in its first day of trade, ending a string of successful big IPOs this year. Sinotruk raised $1.2 billion by selling 702 million shares.
Hong Kong gainers also included China Mobile, shares of which climbed 1.4 percent.
Shares of BHP Billiton fell 1.6 percent. The world's largest miner said Wednesday that that it's still seeking merger talks with Rio Tinto.
ELSEWHERE:
JAKARTA: Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up 1.3 percent.
SEOUL: South Korea's Kospi eased 1.4 percent.
SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index was little changed.
TAIPEI: Taiwan's Weighted Price Index eased 1.2 percent.
SYDNEY: Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 1 percent.
with files from other wire services
