Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Wednesday as mainland Chinese stocks bounced back after days of losses.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 313.48 points, or 1.2%, to 26,386.63.
Shares of robot maker Fanuc plunged 5.7%.
The Japanese yen traded at 127.79 per dollar, stronger as compared with levels above 128.1 seen against the greenback earlier this week
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong inched up 11.65 points, or 0.1%, to 19,946.36.
Technology stocks in the region were mixed in Wednesday trade, with shares of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group dipping 0.3%. In South Korea, shares of Samsung Electronics dropped more than 1% while Krafton shed 4%.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech firms largely saw gains, as Meituan gained 3.4% while Tencent advanced 0.5%.
Australian stocks lost ground. Australia’s consumer price index rose 2.1% in the March 2022 quarter, data from the country’s statistics bureau showed Wednesday. That was above expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.7% rise.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7151, still off levels above $0.72 seen yesterday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 111.42 points, or 2.9%, to 3,895.54.
China’s industrial profits rose 8.5% year-on-year in the January-March period, official data showed Wednesday.
Chinese stocks saw heavy losses earlier in the week as investors remain concerned over the COVID situation in mainland.
Mass testing recently began in China’s capital city of Beijing after a spike in COVID cases was reported over the weekend. That comes as much of Shanghai remains under prolonged lockdown.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index parted with 1.38 points to 3,320.67
In Korea, the Kospi index slid 29.25 points, or 1.1%, to 2,639.06.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index lost 341.44 points, or 2.1%, to 16,303.35.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 descended 86.79 points, or 0.7%, to 11,726.39.
In Australia, the ASX 200 handed back 56.81 points, or 0.8%, to 7,261.17.
