ASIA MARKETS: Japan's Nikkei Rises, But Shanghai Falls

By Mia Lamar

A sudden reversal in the yen lifted Japanese shares Thursday, while a looming weeklong holiday weighed on stocks in China.

Japan's Nikkei staged an intraday rebound after a knee-jerk weakening of the yen sent exporter stocks higher. Traders cited market speculation surrounding reforms to Japan's public pensions as the cause for the currency's sharp move. An advisory panel for Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund met Thursday and was expected to issue a report well after the market closed.

The dollar (USDJPY) was last changing hands at 98.91 yen, after earlier breaking above Yen99, compared with Yen98.43 late Wednesday in New York. Medical-equipment maker Terumo closed 3.4% higher and electronics firm Sharp Corp. rose 2.6%.

Japan's benchmark index finished up 1.2% after falling as much as 1.5% earlier in the session.

Stocks in China pointed in the other direction, with the Shanghai Composite falling 1.9% as investors reduced exposure ahead of a weeklong Golden Week market holiday starting Tuesday.

A thin calendar elsewhere in Asia left stocks to take most direction from a weak session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 stock index (SPX) recorded its longest losing streak since December.

Contentious budget negotiations in Washington were again a drag on the U.S. market, as was confusion surrounding U.S. monetary policy following the surprise Federal Reserve decision last week to maintain the pace of its bond buying.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, Taiwan's Taiex lost 1.2% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.4% higher.

"People are still scratching their heads, trying to figure out why the Fed delayed," said Jiong Shao, head of China strategy at Macquarie. "What did they see that made them have a 180-degree turn?"

Shares of Hong Kong retail middleman Li & Fung Ltd., which sources products for U.S. retailers such as Target Corp. (TGT) and Kohl's Corp.(KSS) , fell 3.1% following a report that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is struggling to unload inventory. A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart called the report "misleading."

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