Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday as investors looked to the U.S. midterm elections set for later in the day.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 recovered 248.76 points, or 1.1%, to 22,147.75. The Japanese yen was at 113.42 against the U.S. dollar following an earlier high around the 113 handle
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered 186.57 points, or 0.7%, to 26,120.96
Shares of conglomerate Softbank dropped 2% for the trading day despite earlier reporting a profit surge for the second quarter of 2018 helped by higher valuations on high-tech bets. The conglomerate's CEO, Masayoshi Son, said on Monday that "there may be some impact" on its Saudi-backed Vision Fund following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The Japanese tech investment giant has poured billions into start-ups in Silicon Valley and around the world through this investment fund.
Australian markets moved back up, with most sectors seeing gains. The energy sector gained 1.6%, and materials sectors took on 1.7%, as the heavily weighted financial sub-index advanced 0.8%.
The moves Down Under came after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its decision to keep the cash rate unchanged at 1.5%.
The move was widely anticipated by market observers, with Rakuten Securities Australia saying in a morning note that "local investors looking to make money today will probably be (focusing) more on the Melbourne Cup."
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7216 U.S. after rising from levels above $0.718 yesterday.
Stocks of major Apple suppliers in Taiwan widely fell on the day. That appeared to be on the back of a report that the Cupertino-based tech giant had put on hold a plan to boost production of its iPhone XR.
Shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor slipped 0.2% while major assemblers Pegatron fell 4.6%, while Hon Hai — also known as Foxconn — ditched 3.4%.
Catcher Technology, a supplier of light-metal casings and enclosures for mobile devices, plunged 7.9% on Wednesday despite reporting a surge in quarterly revenue on Tuesday. Meanwhile, lens maker Largan Precision also dropped by 6.3%.
In other markets
Markets in Singapore and New Zealand were shuttered for holiday.
The CSI 300 fell 19.69 points, or 0.6%, to 3,243.15
In Taiwan, the Taiex index retreated 64.86 points, or 0.7%, to 9,824.95
In Korea, the Kospi index nosed up 12.7 points, or 0.6%, at 2,089.62
In Australia, the ASX 200 regrouped 57.04 points, or 1%, to 5,875.18
