Asia-Pacific stocks were largely lower on Thursday, with Chinese stocks leading losses regionally.
The Nikkei 225 faded 188.37 points, or 0.6%, to 30,323.34.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.35 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dumped 365.36 points, or 1.5%, to 24,667.85, with most casino stocks listed in the city seeing a second straight day of sharp losses.
Shares of Wynn Macau in Hong Kong dropped 4.7%, Sands China fell 8% and Melco International Development slipped 0.8%. Those moves followed a Wednesday plunge for casino stocks as Macao kicked off a public gaming consultation.
Australia’s unemployment rate decreased to 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, data released Thursday showed, lower than the 4.9% forecast in a Reuters poll. Still, the Australian Bureau of Statistics attributed the decline to a “large fall in participation during the recent lockdowns” rather than strengthening labor market conditions.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7321, still off levels above $0.735 that were seen earlier this week.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 59.62 points, or 1.2% to 4,807.70.
In Korea, the Kospi index went south 23.31 points, or 0.7%, to 3,130.09
In Singapore, the Straits Times recovered 5.93 points, or 0.2%, to 3,064.54
In Taiwan, the Taiex index fell 75.3 points, or 0.4%, to 17,278.70
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 19.8 points, or 0.2%, to 13,079.51
In Australia, the ASX 200 regained 43.18 points, or 0.6%, at 7,460.21
