Asian stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday following the mixed session on Wall Street as several markets in the region resumed trade after a holiday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 deducted 35.25 points, or 0.2%, to 22,472.28, as the mining and oil sub-indexes led losses for the day. Automakers were also broadly traded lower.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 84.57 points, or 0.3%, to 30,723.88, with declines in large cap financials before the market close.
Casino stocks, however, gained on the back of revenues topping expectations last month, with SJM Holdings up 5.2% ahead of the end of the trading session.
Korean markets stepped backwards, as most steelmakers slipped and automakers declined.
Australian markets moved ahead, with broad-based gains seen in all sectors except telecommunications.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was mostly steady at 109.76. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar edged higher after slipping below the $0.75 handle in the last session. The Aussie dollar last traded at $0.7526.
In individual movers, SK Innovation advanced 6.1% following news earlier this week that it would buy back around one trillion won ($932.6 million U.S.) worth of its shares.
Meanwhile, shares of Standard Chartered were down 1.8% in Hong Kong. The bank reported earlier in the day that first-quarter pretax profit topped expectations.
Elsewhere, Qantas stock jumped 8.1% after the airline announced it was expecting record full-year pre-tax profit of between 1.55 billion and 1.6 billion Australian dollars ($1.17 billion to $1.2 billion U.S.).
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 poked up 6.77 points, or 0.2%, 8,763.65
On the economic front, China's Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 51.1 last month, compared to a forecast of 50.9.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index edged up 1.35 points to 3,615.28
In Korea, the Kospi index settled 9.77 points, or 0.4%, to 2,505.61
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index lost 39.07 points, or 0.4%, to 10,618.81
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained 58.27 points, or 0.7%, to 8,494.24
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 34.95 points, or 0.6%, to 6,050.19
