Markets in Asia closed mostly higher on Thursday, following the lower close on Wall Street as investors parsed details on U.S. President Donald Trump's highly-anticipated tax reform plans.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan saw its winning streak snapped, cooling off 37.56 points, or 0.2%, to 19,251.87. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan held on, as was widely expected, but raised its economic forecast.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index grew 120.05 points, or 0.5%, to 24,698.48
Over in Hong Kong, China Vanke shares were down 1.9% following news that the sales of two Vanke property projects in the city of Xian, China had been halted. Vanke shares on the mainland closed nearly 3% lower.
Gaming stocks, which soared more than 3% across the board in the previous session, gave up some of their gains. Sands China was off 3% Galaxy Entertainment declined 2.7% and Wynn Macau dropped 2.7%
Deutsche Bank said in a research note that it was changing its call on the gaming sector in Macau from Overweight to Neutral as Macau's recovery had already been priced in. DB downgraded the stocks of Sands China, Galaxy, MGM China and SJM Holdings from buy to hold
In Korea, Samsung Electronics said its first-quarter profits were the best since 2013 due to solid earnings from its memory chip segment. Samsung shares initially dropped more than 1.8%, after the company said it would not be introducing a holding company structure. Shares later recovered to trade 2.4% higher to close at 2,192,000 won per share.
Shares of Samsung's other listed units traded lower following news that the company would not restructure. Samsung SDI was closed lower by 2.9%, Samsung C&T dropped 6.8% and Samsung Engineering tanked 6% to close at 12,450 won per share.
LG Display reported record quarterly earnings on Wednesday but shares of the LCD panel maker were down 4.9% to finish at 29,850 won a share.
On the economic front, South Korea estimated Q1 gross domestic product grew 0.9% compared to the previous quarter, due to improvements in exports and investment.
The Australian dollar gained against its U.S. counterparts, after falling for three consecutive sessions. The Aussie last traded at $0.7484 U.S.
Even though Trump's proposed changes in the tax system included a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%, the plan left investors with questions on whether the changes would increased the budget deficit.
In other markets
The CSI 300 in Shanghai inched up 0.94 points to 3,446.72
In Taiwan, the Taiex index added 4.17 points to 9,860.62
The Kospi Index in Korea picked up 1.62 points, or 0.1%, to 2,209.46
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index reversed 2.4 points, or 0.1%, to 3,171.36
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 19.48 points, or 0.3%, to 7,354.61
In Australia, the ASX 200 was positive 9.45 points, or 0.2%, to 5,921.48
