Japanese stocks retreated on Thursday as a pause in the weakening of the yen gave investors an excuse to book profits, though financials extended their outperformance on rising U.S. yields.
The Nikkei 225 Index doffed 90.45 points, or 0.5%, to 19,347.53, with Toshiba shares extending their recent tumble.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong strengthened 112.83 points, or 0.5%, to 24,107.70
Toshiba shares continued their decline on Thursday, falling 3.3%, extending a more-than-8% drop in Wednesday's session amid mounting troubles.
Various media reported Toshiba may delay the sale of its prized flash-memory chip unit as it scrambles for cash to stay in business, after booking a massive multi-billion dollar hit to its U.S. nuclear unit. The company has delayed releasing its earnings results.
The yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar to trade at 113.67 late afternoon local time, climbing from the last close at 114.15.
The stronger yen sent Japanese exporters lower, with major automakers in the red. Toyota shares fell 0.5%, Nissan was down 0.3% and Honda fell 0.6%. Electronics maker Sony dropped nearly 1%
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was at $0.7698 U.S.
In regional company news, Singapore's top lender DBS Group said Thursday that net profit in the fourth quarter of 2016 fell nearly 9% from the year-earlier quarter to S$913 million. DBS shares advanced 1.6%
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 forged up 19.22 points, or 0.6%, to 3,440.93,
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index gave back 28.51 points, or 0.3%, to 9,771.25
In Korea, the Kospi index moved forward 9.29 points, or 0.5%, to 2,083.86
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 8.21 points, or 0.3%, to 3,096.69
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 80.05 points, or 1.1%, to 7,099.98
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched up 7.24 points, or 0.1%, to 5,816.31
