Japanese shares dropped on Thursday in a mixed Asian trading session, as a stronger yen weighed on sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo continued to seesaw, as it has done over the past few days, dumping 259.63 points, or 1.6%, to 16,486.01
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped 223.38 points, or 1%, to 23,023.16
During trading hours, the Japanese yen strengthened as high as 99.62 against the U.S. dollar before retreating slightly. As of the market close, the yen traded at 100.05 against the dollar.
That spurred declines in major exporters, with Toyota closing down 1.8%, Nissan down 2.6% and Mazda dropping 1.3%.
Declining exports in July may also have hit sentiment on exporters. Japan's July exports fell 14% on-year, the worst drop in seven years, but in line with expectations, while imports declined 24.7%, missing a forecast for a 20.6% decline.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent closed up 5.2%, after the company's results, released Wednesday, smashed expectations.
Elsewhere in the currency market, the Australia dollar surged against the greenback from levels near $0.7660 U.S. before the release of better-than-expected July headline employment figures to as high as $0.7723 afterward. As of late afternoon local time, the Aussie traded at $0.7698 U.S.
Australia's July employment print came in better-than-expected, with 26,200 new jobs being created, beating a forecast for 11,000 new positions. The unemployment rate for the month came in at 5.7%. Full-time employment, however, declined by 45,400, while part-time employment increased by 71,600.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 subtracted 8.56 points, or 0.3%, to 3,364.49
In China, home price growth sped up in July, but analysts do not expect prices to keep up the pace for much longer.
The cost of a house across China rose around 7.9% on-year in July, accelerating from 7.3% in June and 6.9% in May, marking the fastest growth since February 2014
Shares of Chinese property developers closed mostly higher. Shenzhen-listed shares of China Vanke closed down 1%, erasing earlier gains of near 5%, Gemdale advanced 4.6% Shanghai Shimao rose 1.3% and Poly Real Estate gained 2.5%.
In other markets
The Taiex Index in Taiwan added 4.8 points, or 0.1%, to 9,122.5
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 11.72 points, or 0.6%, to 2,055.47
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index doffed 6.37 points, or 0.2%, to 2,836.98
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 grew 30.11 points, or 0.4%, to 7,385.13
The ASX 200 dropped 27.23 points, or 0.5%, to 5,507.82
