Stocks in Asia-Pacific struggled for direction on Thursday, as concerns over the economic impact of the omicron COVID variant continue to weigh on investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slumped 182.25 points, or 0.7%, to 27,753.37.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.25 per dollar, still stronger than levels above 113.4 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 130.01 points, or 0.6%, to 23,788.93.
Shares of Razer in the city, however, dropped 7.9% on the day. The company said a consortium has offered to take it private at 2.82 Hong Kong dollars each, about 5.62% higher than Razer’s Wednesday close.
Australia’s October trade surplus came in at 11.22 billion Australian dollars (about $7.97 billion U.S.) on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to official data. That was against expectations in a Reuters poll for an 11-billion-Australian-dollar surplus for October.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7107 after recently dropping from above $0.715.
In other markets
In China, the CSI 300 marched ahead 12.31 points, or 0.3%, to 4,856.16.
In Taiwan, the Taiex triumphed 138.89 points, or 0.8%, to 17,724.88
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 6.14 points, or 0.2%, to 2,945.27
In Korea, the Kospi index jumped 45.55 points, or 1.6%, to 2,945.27
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 backslid 54.05 points, or 0.4%, to 12,670.24
In Australia, the ASX 200 lost 10.67 points, or 0.2%, at 7,225.18
