Asian equity markets ended mixed Thursday, with shares of Japanese exporters such as Sony hit by the yen's sharp appreciation, while automakers in Shanghai got a lift from upbeat sales data.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index experienced its seventh straight downward session, dropping 129.69 points, or 1.4%, to 9,291.06.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained back 69.52 points, or 0.4% to 17,790.59.
A modest rebound in oil and gold prices supported a recovery in commodity stocks such as BHP Billiton and China's Cnooc Ltd. after a string of recent declines.
Among Tokyo bellwethers, shares of Sony gave up 2.8%, while Panasonic lost 2.2% and Toyota Motor shed 2%.
In Hong Kong, China Merchants Bank fell 3.1% following reports it's considering a rights issue.
The lender had discussed the possibility of a rights issue to raise funds to boost its capital adequacy, two fund managers approached by the lender told Dow Jones Newswires.
Among mining plays, shares of BHP Billiton added 0.5% and Lihir Gold climbed 1.4% in Sydney.
And in energy, shares of Cnooc rose 2.1% and PetroChina gained 1% in Hong Kong.
Failing to participate was Rio Tinto, shares of which fell 1.2%.
The Australian government said a Rio Tinto employee who's being held in China was suspected by Beijing of espionage, in the latest twist in the company's increasingly fraught relationship with the country that ranks as its biggest market for iron ore.
On another front, people familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal that Rio Tinto was closing in on a sale of more than $2 billion U.S. worth of packaging assets to Amcor, in a deal that would help it further reduce debt. Amcor saw its shares advance 2.6% in Sydney.
Meanwhile, shares of Sumitomo Metal Mining slid 0.1% in a downbeat Tokyo market, giving up early gains it posted after a Nikkei report that nonferrous-metals firm and trading house Sumitomo Corp. had bought a combined 40% of the Pogo gold mine in Alaska from Canada's Teck Resources. Sumitomo Corp.'s shares fell 1.5%.
In Taiwan, electronics shares played off expectations of fair second-quarter results. Chunghwa Picture Tubes surged 6.8% after the Economic Daily News quoted Chairman Wei-Shan Lin as saying the flat-panel maker planned to introduce a heavyweight strategic investor in two months.
In currency trading, the dollar was recently buying 93.29 yen, up from 92.66 yen late Wednesday in New York, where it touched 91.80 yen -- its worst level since Feb. 17. The euro, meanwhile, was at $1.3948 U.S., from $1.3878 U.S., and at 130.19 yen, from 128.33 yen.
CHINA
China’s Shanghai Composite Index kept rolling, gaining 44.04 points, or 1.3%, to 3,396.30
Automakers extended gains after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said auto sales last month rose 36.5% from June 2008 to 1.14 million units, outstripping May's 34% increase. Shares of SAIC Motor rose 8.6% as FAW Car surged 10%.
Chinese banking shares underperformed the broad indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong, although data released a day before showed that the lenders more than doubled the amount of new loans made in June from May's levels
Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China slipped by 0.2% in Shanghai and by 0.6% in Hong Kong, while Bank of China erased early losses in line with the market to end up by 0.4% in Shanghai and by 0.3% in Hong Kong.
Elsewhere:
Singapore’s Straits Times Index picked up 47.84 points, or 2.1%, to 2,307.61
South Korea’s Kospi index fell back 0.13 points, or 0.01%, to 1,430.89
Taiwan’s Taiex shifted gears and moved higher 80.04 points, or 1.2%, to 6,748.18
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index shaved off 8.92 points, or 0.3%, to 2,741.68
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 backpedaled 4.60 points, or 0.1%, to 3,763.30
