Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Wednesday, with official data showing higher-than-expected growth in Australia’s economy for the first quarter.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 131.8 points, or 0.2%, to 28,946.14.
In corporate developments, shares of Japan’s Toyota rose 2.18% and while Honda soared by 4.6%. The gains came despite reports that the automakers have temporarily suspended production in Malaysia due to country’s lockdown, which started Tuesday.
Other Japanese automakers also saw gains, with Mazda jumping 4.5% while Mitsubishi Motors rose 3.2%.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.76 per U.S. dollar, stronger than levels around 109.6 seen against the greenback yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 170.38 points, or 0.6%, to 29,297.62.
Australia’s gross domestic product rose 1.8% from last quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis in the first three months of the year, according to official data released Wednesday. That compared against expectations in an economist poll for a 1.5% increase.
Following the data release, the Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7734, still stronger than levels below $0.772 seen earlier this week.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 lost 51.71 points, or 1%, to 5,289.97.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index shed 26.19 points, or 0.8%, to 3,161.04.
The Kospi index in Korea nicked ahead 2.36 points, or 0.1%, to 3,224.23
In Taiwan, the Taiex index stepped back 2.66 points to 17,165.04
In New Zealand the NZX 50 backpedaled 22.41 points, or 0.2%, to 12,440.06
In Australia, the ASX 200 jumped 75.25 points, or 1.1%, to 7,217.82.
