Asia markets mostly closed higher on Wednesday, with Hong Kong leading gains and several major indexes advancing more than 1% each, tracking Wall Street's rise on solid housing data.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 zoomed 258.59 points, or 1.6%, to 16,757.35, with shares receiving an additional boost from a relatively weaker yen against the dollar.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rocketed 537.62 points, or 2.7%, to 20,368.05.
The Japanese yen remained relatively weak against the dollar, with the pair trading at 110.00, a touch down from a previous session high of 110.18.
Major Japanese export stocks mostly closed higher, with Toyota shares adding 2.3%, Nissan up 1.5% and Honda gaining 2.4%. A weaker yen is a positive for exporters as it increases their overseas revenue when converted into local currency.
Energy plays in the region closed mixed, with Santos up 2.6%,,Oil Search up 2.9% and Inpex higher by 1.1%.
In company news, Sony shares advanced 6.5% after the company released its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Sony said it expected operating income to come in at 300 billion yen ($2.72 billion U.S.) for fiscal 2017, a 2% increase from the 294.2 billion yen for the year ended March 31, 2016.
In Australia, Wesfarmers shares fell 0.2% The company said in a statement that it will take impairment charges up of to 2.15 billion Australian dollars in fiscal 2016 due to poor market conditions and lower coal prices.
Australian stocks also popped, with shares receiving an additional boost from a relatively weaker yen against the dollar.
The Australian dollar advanced in afternoon trade, up from levels around $0.7180 in morning trade to around $0.7202.
Experts said a combination of dollar strength and the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens' reaffirmation that the central bank was committed to inflation-targeting weighed on the Aussie overnight. Governor Stevens spoke on Tuesday to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.
CHINA
The CSI 300 Index lost 4.33 points, or 0.1%, to 3,059.23
Mainland Chinese oil stocks finished mostly lower, with shares of Sinopec down 0.2% and China Oilfield lower by 0.7%
The Chinese yuan traded at 6.5590 against the dollar in the afternoon, down from a previous session high of 6.5648. Before market open, the People's Bank of China set the yuan mid-point at 6.5693 — the fixing was the weakest for the yuan since 2011 — compared with the previous day's fix at 6.5468.
China's central bank lets the yuan spot rate rise or fall a maximum of 2% against the dollar, relative to the official fixing rate.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi Index recovered 22.83 points, or 1.2%, to 1,960.51
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index regained 16.43 points, or 0.6%, to 2,766.66
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index leaped 95.54 points, or 1.2%, to 8,396.20
New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 35.39 points, or 0.5%, to 6,908.04
The ASX 200 moved up 76.94 points, or 1.5%, to 5,372.51
