Shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong declined Tuesday as investors locked in profits before the Lunar New Year holidays, while Japanese stocks edged lower on exporters such as Honda Motor Co. after a weak finish on Wall Street.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index shed 114.20 points, or 0.82 percent, to 13,745.50 while in Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Seng Index fell 223.38 points, or 0.89 percent, to close at 24,808.70.
Among the session's biggest losers were companies in the textiles and electronics sectors that downgraded earnings forecasts and reported poor figures for the most recent quarter.
Camera and medical device-maker Olympus slumped 14 percent to 3,100 yen, a low for the year, after cutting its group operating profit outlook by 4 percent Monday because of a stronger yen and weaker U.S. sales.
Textile and carbon fiber manufacturer Mitsubishi Rayon nose-dived 17 percent to 353 yen after it slashed its net profit outlook 30 percent for the twelve months ending March 31.
Among the session's winners, Yahoo Japan continued to notch up healthy gains on Microsoft Corp.'s bid for Yahoo Inc. Yahoo Japan rose 5 percent to 48,300 yen after rallying 9.5 percent the day before.
China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.6% to 4,599.70 during the volatile session, after rising as much as 8.1% in the previous session.
Elsewhere:
New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.6% to 3,690.01.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4% to 1,696.57.
India's Sensitive Index slipped 0.1% at 18,650.10 by late afternoon during a volatile session.
Singapore's Straits Times index declined 0.8% to 3,054.05.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index ended 1.3% lower at 5,792.90, after the country's central bank raised its benchmark interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 7%, the highest level in more than 11 years.
with files from other services
