Asian shares ended mixed Wednesday with a strong Japanese yen dragging on exporters in Tokyo.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 204.67 points, or 2.1%, to 9,489.34
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 92.22 points, or 0.4%, to 21,549.88
Recent weak economic data out of the U.S. raised concerns that the Federal Reserve might loosen monetary policy more, and possibly cause the greenback to plunge further against the yen.
Exporters' stocks led Japanese markets lower, as the U.S. dollar slipped to a fresh eight-month low against the yen at Y85.32.
Sony Corp lost 3.0%, Canon Inc slid 4.3%, Tokyo Electron was 5.0% lower.
Auto makers were also down with Toyota Motor off 1.6% and Honda Motor 2.2% lower.
Toyota late Wednesday posted a net profit of Y190.47 billion in the three months ended June 30, reversing a net loss of Y77.82 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Earlier, Toyota said it U.S. July sales fell 3.2% on-year while Honda reported that sales dropped 2.0%.
Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific Airways rose 3.9% after it reported a more-than-eightfold rise in net profit for the first half at HK$6.84 billion, helped by a strong recovery in demand for its cargo and passenger services.
Australian shares were hurt by weakness in financial and resource stocks.
ANZ Bank was off 1.0%, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.5%. In the materials sector, BHP Billiton slipped 0.7% while Rio Tinto was down 0.2%.
Linc Energy plunged 6.2% to A$1.745 after announcing the sale of its Galilee thermal coal tenement in Queensland state to India's Adani Enterprises, which had been well flagged to the market and driven Linc's shares up 85% since July 1.
In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar remained under pressure against the yen, although the euro was taking a breather as falling equities kept risk-appetite at bay. The dollar was fetching Y85.42 against the yen, from Y85.85 late in New York on Tuesday.
The euro was at $1.3226 against the dollar, from $1.3233, and at Y112.98 against the yen, from Y113.60.
CHINA
China stocks ended on a positive note with gains in auto makers and gold miners outweighing inflation concerns and Wall Street's fall overnight.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index regained 10.46 points, or 0.4%, to 2,876.43
Auto makers led the day's gains after Shanghai Securities News cited a proposal from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to invest more than CNY100 billion in the production of environmentally friendly cars over the next 10 years as part of Beijing's strategy to make its economy more energy efficient.
Anhui Ankai Automobile rose 4.2% and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile was up 8.1%.
Gold stocks were also higher after the Chinese government said it would increase the number of commercial banks allowed to import and export gold, broadening the domestic market beyond the five largest commercial banks.
Shandong Gold-Mining was 1.4% higher and Zhongjin Gold ended up 1.0%.
Elsewhere;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 12.90 points, or 0.4%, to 3,001.87
Korea’s Kospi index moved 1.34 points, or 0.1%, lower to 1,789.26
Taiwan’s Taiex Index gathered 15.13 points, or 0.2%, to 7,972.66
New Zealand’s NZX index gave back 12.25 points, or 0.4%, to 3,038.13
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 29.50 points, or 0.7%, to 4,542.10
