ASIA MARKETS: Asian Stocks Mostly Up As Tokyo Lags

By Daniel Inman

Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday with Sydney hitting a fresh five-year intraday high, though a stronger yen weighed on Tokyo shares.

With a positive lead from the U.S., Asia was able to move slightly higher despite the absence of major trading cues. Stocks were moderating after strong gains earlier in the week brought about by further signs of a Chinese economic recovery and reduced expectations of a military intervention in Syria.

After rising 0.6% Wednesday to close at a multiyear high, the S&P/ASX 200 hit the highest intraday level in more than five years at 5,252.10. The market ended up 0.2% at 5,242.50.

The Australian dollar (AUDUSD) however, which hit a ten-week high overnight against its U.S. counterpart, tumbled after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that number of people employed fell 10,800 in August, compared with an expected 10,000 rise. The Aussie recently changed hands at 92.58 U.S. cents, compared with 93.43 U.S. cents earlier in the session.

The yen (USDJPY) strengthened overnight -- below Yen100 to the dollar mark -- and continued to firm in Asia. It was last at Yen99.54 to the dollar, compared with Yen99.89 late Wednesday in New York.

The stronger Japanese currency weighed on Tokyo stocks, with the Nikkei closing down 0.3%.

Shares in Mitsubishi Motors (MMTOY) fell 8.1% in Tokyo after a Nikkei report said the auto maker is planning a Yen200 billion ($2 billion) public offering this fiscal year, in order to buy back preferred shares owned by four Mitsubishi group companies.

Electronics firm Sharp Corp. (SHCAF) was also under pressure, losing 6%, after news reports said the company plans to raise up to Yen200 billion through an offering of shares in order to help cover a shortfall in its corporate pension plan in the current fiscal year and pay for bond redemptions in 2014.

Regional suppliers to Apple (AAPL) remained under pressure after Apple shares fell 5.4% overnight, following disappointment surrounding the firm's latest iPhones. Foster Electric Company lost 4.1% in Japan and AAC Technologies Holdings dropped 4.2% in Hong Kong.

Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong managed to add to their gains, with the Shanghai Composite ending up 0.6%. Chinese stocks in Hong Kong took pause, with the Hang Seng Index up less than 0.1%.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea's Kospi was flat at 2,004.06 and Singapore's Straits Times Index was last up 0.4%.

More generally, markets were looking ahead to next week, when the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold its policy meeting, which some expect will result in the central bank reducing the scale of its bond-buying program.

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