HONK KONG: Asian stocks were subdued in Wednesday trade, tracking the mixed performance on Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1 percent, or 23.72 points, to close at 22,891.72 as banks and trading houses rose. Tech shares were mixed, with Nintendo sliding 1.26 percent by the end of the day. Japan Display bounced 3.08 percent following local media reports that it was in investment talks to potentially receive above 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) from three Chinese companies, Reuters said.
Automaker Subaru plunged 7.06 percent after the company acknowledged a report that inspectors who had yet to be certified conducted vehicle inspections. Subaru said it would be implementing measures to restore public trust in the company. The rest of the Japanese auto sector was a mixed picture.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index ended 0.25 percent lower at 2,472.37 as gains in manufacturing names were offset losses in blue-chip names in other sectors. Samsung Electronics declined 1.32 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.33 percent and Posco rose 1.99 percent by the end of the day.South Korean retailers were lower in morning trade after South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that visas to South Korea for Chinese tour groups had been banned once more. Lotte Shopping closed down 1.78 percent and cosmetics giant Amorepacific fell 2.86 percent .
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched higher by 0.06 percent to close at 6,075.60, with gains seen in the resources space. Most mining companies continued their climb, with Rio Tinto closing up 0.88 percent and Atlas Iron jumping 10 percent. The telecommunications and utilities sub-indexes were lower by 0.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Markets in greater China traded slightly lower. The Hang Seng Indextraded lower by 0.14 percent at 3:05 p.m. HK/SIN after gaining more than 200 points in the last session. Casino stocks rose, with Melco International Development adding 2.15 percent by 3:08 p.m. HK/SIN, but heavyweight AIA was lower by 0.63 percent and Tencent slipped 0.7 percent.
Mainland indexes recorded moderate losses in a thinly-traded session, which saw telcos among the worst-performing sectors on the day. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.27 percent to close at 3,287.61 and the Shenzhen Composite edged down by 0.74 percent to end at 1,891.52.
