Most Asian stock markets retreated Thursday, giving up some of their recent gains, with shipping companies leading Japanese shares down after Nippon Yusen announced capital-raising plans.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell back 67.95 points, or 0.7%, to 9,804.49.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slid 229.64 points, or 1%, to 22,397.
The Nikkei, Kospi and S&P/ASX 200 declined for the first time in five sessions.
Shares of Nippon Yusen shrank 4% in Tokyo on equity-dilution concerns after announcing a plan to raise up to 142.5 billion yen ($1.58 billion U.S.). The news, coming close on the heels of a capital-raising plan by retailer Aeon Co., raised concerns other non-financial companies may also be in line to raise capital.
Shipping companies lost heavily, with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha slumping 6.1% and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines dropping 1.5%.
FamilyMart rose 1.6%, on news that the Japanese convenience-store operator was in talks to buy unlisted smaller rival am/pm Japan Co., according to a person familiar with the matter.
Japanese auto makers advanced after Goldman Sachs said it was more bullish on Honda Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries owing to expected earnings improvement, replacing Toyota Motor Co. with Honda in its conviction buy list of stocks and raising Fuji Heavy to "buy" from "neutral".
It also lifted Yamaha Motor to neutral from sell, saying the negative catalysts have "mostly played out."
Honda rose 1.8%, Fuji Heavy jumped 4.4% and Yamaha added 2.6%, while Toyota gained 2.6%.
Strong Australian October jobs data and a weakened U.S. dollar helped lift commodity stocks in Sydney, where BHP Billiton rose 1.2% and Rio Tinto added 1.8% with Sino Gold Mining gaining 1.3%.
But Bluescope Steel weighed on market sentiment, sinking 4.6% after Chairman Graham Kraehe said a small fiscal first-half loss was likely and warned the steel maker was unlikely to pay an interim dividend.
In Hong Kong, all seven stocks in the MSCI China Index rose with Anta Sports Products up 2.0%, BBMG Corp. 1.3% higher and Golden Eagle Retail Group up 6%.
In Seoul, Hyosung Corp. jumped 14.8% after the company decided to drop its bid for a majority stake in Hynix Semiconductor due to an unfavorable market response. Hynix shares lost 1.8%.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.00% for the ninth straight month, with Gov. Lee Seongtae's comment that there was a need to maintain an accommodative stance lifting expectations there may not be any interest-rate increases this year.
Australia's October employment data gave a boost to the Australian dollar, and other risky currencies like the euro. The Australian dollar rose to a 15-month high of $0.9369 U.S. after the data reinforced the market's view the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates for the third consecutive time at its Dec. 1 policy meeting. The Aussie was recently buying $0.9326.
Australia's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.8% in October from 5.7% in September, in line with expectations. The number of employed, however, rose a strong 24,500, topping economists' expectations for a drop of 10,000.
Elsewhere:
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index resumed its upward trek, gaining 4.32 points to 3,499.99.
Taiwan’s Taiex index picked up 2.87 points to 7,670.93
Singapore’s Straits Times index was down 14.19 points, or 0.5%, to 2,726.24
Korea’s Kospi index lost 22.09 points, to 1.4%, to 1,572.73
New Zealand’s NZX Index finished 10.54 points, 0.3%, higher to 3,172.08
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 9.10 points, or 0.2%, to 4,747.90
