Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Thursday, as investors monitored shares of developer China Evergrande Group in Hong Kong.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo tumbled 546.97 points, or 1.9%, to 28,708.58. The Japanese yen traded at 114.07 per dollar after strengthening from above 114.4 against the greenback yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng ditched 118.49 points, or 0.5%, to 26,017.53.
Evergrande shares dropped 12.5%, having returned to trade on Thursday after a halt that lasted more than two weeks.
The debt-laden firm announced in an exchange filing late Wednesday that a deal to sell a 50.1% stake in its property services business to another developer Hopson had fallen through.
Evergrande, which has already missed multiple coupon payments for its bonds, also warned "there is no guarantee that the Group will be able to meet its financial obligations under the relevant financing documents and other contracts."
Shares of Evergrande Property Services Group, which also resumed trading on Thursday, plunged 8%, while Hopson shares jumped 7.6%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7485, holding on to gains after climbing from below $0.744 earlier this week.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 gained 17.84 points, or 0.4%, to 4,928.02.
In Taiwan, the Taiex inched up 1.89 points to 16,889.51.
In Korea, the Kospi index sank 5.8 points, or 0.2%, to 3,007.33
In Singapore, the Straits Times doffed 9.58 points, or 0.3%, to 3,188.50
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 11.74 points, or 0.1%, to 13,125.98
In Australia, the ASX 200 inched up 1.7 points at 7,415.37
