Stocks in Asia were mixed on Thursday, with U.S.-China trade hopes up as negotiations are set to continue.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 122.78 points, or 0.6%, to 20,751.28, as shares of Fast Retailing fell by 2.7%. Softbank Group soared 17.7%, on the back of its announcement on Wednesday that it would purchase up to 600 billion yen ($5.46 billion U.S.) of stock in its largest-ever buyback.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.96 against the U.S. dollar after seeing highs around 109.54 in the previous session.
Australian markets recovered, with almost all sectors higher. The heavily weighted financial sub-index rose 1.8% as shares of the country's so-called Big Four Banks advanced. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group gained 1.7%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia advanced 2%,
Westpac rose 1.9% and National Australia Bank climbed by 1.3%
South Korea's Kospi closed largely flat, with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix jumping 1.1%
The Australian dollar was at $0.7103 U.S. after slipping sharply from highs below $0.725 yesterday. The decline came on the back of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe's speech on Wednesday.
In other markets
Markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Shanghai remained shuttered for holiday
Markets in Korea came back from a prolonged long weekend as the Kospi index eased back 0.04 points to 2,203.42
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index also went back to trading after the holiday, gaining 16.08 points, or 0.5%, to 3,200.64
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 returned from holiday to gain 59.79 points, or 0.7%, to 9,133.51
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 66.32 points, or 1.1%, to 6,092.46
