Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher in Wednesday trade as investors continued to assess the impact of the omicron COVID variant.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 44.62 points, or 0.2%, to 28,562.21.
Softbank Group’s stock dipped 0.2% while South Korea-listed shares of chipmaker SK Hynix climbed 2%
The Japanese yen traded at 114.17 per dollar following a recent weakening from levels below 113.7 against the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng hiked 131 points, or 0.6%, to 23,102.33.
In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese tech giants pared earlier gains but mostly remained in positive territory. Alibaba was up 0.4% while Tencent gained 0.14%, while Meituan dipped 0.3%. The Hang Seng Tech index traded 0.9% higher.
Singapore travel stocks fell in Wednesday trade after the country’s health ministry announced a freezing of new ticket sales for quarantine-free travel starting Thursday in a bid to limit exposure to imported omicron cases.
Shares of Singapore Airlines fell 1.02% while SATS declined 0.26%. The broader Straits Times index in Singapore was little changed, as of 3:23 p.m. local time.
Those moves contrasted against gains largely seen elsewhere in the region for travel stocks
Japan Airlines shares in Japan surged 2.7% while ANA Holdings rose 1.17%. Australia’s Qantas Airways climbed 0.4%.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 eked up 0.96 points to 4,914.45
In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 37.56 points, or 0.2%, to 17,826.83
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fought its way up 2.43 points, or 0.1%, to 3,087.51
In Korea, the Kospi index advanced 9.45 points, or 0.3%, to 2,984.48
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 8.35 points, or 0.1%, to 12,865.22
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved up 9.72 points, or 0.1%, at 7,364.77.
