Shares in Asia were mainly higher in the first trading day of November trading after a roller coaster October rocked stocks in the region.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slumped 232.81 points, or 1.1%, to 21,687.65.
Tech giants were in focus, with shares of Panasonic plunging 5.6% and conglomerate Softbank diving 8.2%
The Japanese yen was at 112.82 against the U.S. dollar after strengthening from levels around 113.3 in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index triumphed 436.31 points, or 1.8%, to 25,416
In Australia, the materials sector advanced 1.3%, with shares of major miners posting gains: Rio Tinto was up 2.1%, Fortescue Metals advanced 2.8% and BHP Billiton jumped 2.8%
The move in BHP's stock followed an announcement where the company said it plans to return $10.4 billion U.S. to its shareholders through the combination of an off-market buyback and a special dividend.
BHP said it would target an off-market share buyback of $5.2 billion immediately and plans to pay the remainder of the proceeds from its onshore U.S. assets sale in the form of a special dividend.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7142 U.S. from an earlier low of $0.7070. The moves in the Aussie dollar came after the country's trade surplus came in above expectations.
CHINA
The CSI 300 gained 23.21 points, or 0.7%, to 3,177.03
Those gains were supported by the Thursday morning report of the Caixin-IHS Markit October Purchasing Managers' index (PMI), which came in at 50.1 for October. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the reading to have dipped slightly to 49.9 from 50.0 in September.
The survey covers small and medium-sized enterprises in the country, and a reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
Chinese economic data has been particularly in focus in recent months as the U.S.-China trade war continues to worry investors and businesses. On Wednesday, the country missed expectations with its official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index — which covers large companies and state-owned enterprises — indicating that Chinese manufacturing growth has been weaker than anticipated.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI index jumped 42.05 points, or 1.4%, to 3,060.85
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 42.61 points, or 0.4%, to 9,844.74
In Korea, the Kospi index scaled back 5.23 points, or 0.3%, at 2,024.46
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 advanced 91.52 points, or 1.1%, to 8,843.83
In Australia, the ASX 200 took on 10.49 points, or 0.2%, to 5,840.80
