Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with Hong Kong stocks taking a rally into the second session on PetroChina Co. and financials, while Shanghai stocks declined sharply as trading resumed after a week of Lunar New Year holidays, catching up with the region's losses during that period.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 0.4 percent to close at 13,068 points, while in Hong Kong, gains in Chinese oil companies and Hong Kong property firms lifted the Hang Seng Index 1.1 percent to 23,170 points.
Japanese shipping stocks were among the session's winners, with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines advancing 4.9 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha adding 4.4 percent.
Robot maker Fanuc Ltd. climbed 4 percent, Sony Corp. rose 2.3 percent and storage technology maker TDK Corp. added 2.2 percent.
Banks led the decliners. Mizuho Financial Group lost 1.2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 2.2 percent.
After the market closed, Japan's Financial Services Agency said subprime-related losses at Japanese banks totaled 600 billion yen (US$5.6 billion) through December, more than doubling the 276 billion yen figure posted in September.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 2.4 percent to 4,490.7.
Elsewhere:
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 1.2% lower at 5,542.10, dragged down by banking stocks in the wake of weaker-than-expected half-yearly results from Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index declined 0.8% to 3,545.77.
South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7% to 1,631.78, giving up early gains.
Taiwan's Weighted index ended little changed at 7,550.55.
with files from other wire services
