Stocks in Tokyo nudged higher Thursday led by gains in cellular telecom operators while a rebound in shares of mining giant BHP Billiton helped Australia's leading share benchmark pare losses.
Japan's leading share benchmark broke below the 13,000-point level before rebounding to end 0.8% higher at 13,207.15.
Markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam were closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. These markets will remain closed throughout the week and reopen Monday, apart from Taiwan and Vietnam, which will reopen Tuesday.
Decliners in Tokyo included Mazda Motor Corp., shares of which slipped 3.9%. The Hiroshima-based automaker reported Wednesday stronger net profit for the fiscal third quarter but said operating profit fell 5.8% to 35.3 billion yen ($331.9 million).
Gainers include Sony Corp, whose shares climbed 2.6%, while Nikon Corp. added 3.3%.
Elsewhere:
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2% lower at 5,596.7.
In Wellington, New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 Index fell 1.5 % to 3,636.202.
India's Sensex index was down 2.1% at 17,772.72.
