CNBC , Asian stocks pared opening gains on Wednesday to trade mixed as the Nikkei resumed its volatile trend to bounce back and forth between gains and losses.
Efforts by central banks to curb market instability lifted sentiment, and drove the Dow to a new record high and European shares to near multi-year highs overnight.
Tokyo equities hovered at the 14,330 mark after opening up over 1 percent, South Korea's Kospi tested the key 2,000 level and Australia's S&P ASX 200 index was flat.
The Shanghai Composite extended gains to hit a fresh two-month high. So far, the index has notched up gains of 1.6 percent for this week to be Asia's best-performing index.
BOJ Watched
Investors are digesting comments from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as he delivers a speech in Tokyo. In his opening remarks, Kuroda said that no financial system can maintain its robustness forever.
"What we've seen in Japan is certain announcements that have sent markets going wild in all different directions and it's useful to have an update. Exactly how much liquidity is happening? And exactly what are their plans for sterilizing it in the future?" said Richard Harris, chief executive of Port Shelter Investment Management.
Efforts by central banks to curb market instability lifted sentiment, and drove the Dow to a new record high and European shares to near multi-year highs overnight.
Tokyo equities hovered at the 14,330 mark after opening up over 1 percent, South Korea's Kospi tested the key 2,000 level and Australia's S&P ASX 200 index was flat.
The Shanghai Composite extended gains to hit a fresh two-month high. So far, the index has notched up gains of 1.6 percent for this week to be Asia's best-performing index.
BOJ Watched
Investors are digesting comments from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as he delivers a speech in Tokyo. In his opening remarks, Kuroda said that no financial system can maintain its robustness forever.
"What we've seen in Japan is certain announcements that have sent markets going wild in all different directions and it's useful to have an update. Exactly how much liquidity is happening? And exactly what are their plans for sterilizing it in the future?" said Richard Harris, chief executive of Port Shelter Investment Management.
| Name | Price | Change | %Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIKKEI | Nikkei 225 Index | 14292.80 | | -19.18 | -0.13% |
| HSI | Hang Seng Index | 22735.42 | | -188.83 | -0.82% |
| ASX 200 | S&P/ASX 200 | 4964.70 | | -6.00 | -0.12% |
| SHANGHAI | Shanghai Composite Index | 2322.70 | | 1.38 | 0.06% |
| KOSPI | KOSPI Index | 1994.80 | | 8.58 | 0.43% |
| CNBC 100 | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | 7005.41 | | -30.20 | -0.43% |
Markets overnight regained some degree of stabilization after both the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the European Central Bank (ECB) reaffirmed their commitment to ultra-loose monetary policies.
(Read More: Here's How QE Tapering Could Hurt Asia)
Upbeat U.S. data also boosted sentiment in Asia. Single-family home prices rose in March to their best annual gain in nearly seven years, according to the S&P/Case Shiller composite index.
Nikkei Flat
Kuroda's comments will be scrutinized given the recent volatility in risk assets and any positive talk of Japanese government bond yields (JGBs) should pave the way for further stock market gains.
This follows Tuesday's statements where he said that domestic economic conditions have not changed, suggesting that the recent market swings did not reflect fundamentals.
(Read More: Japan's Nikkei—Stable Now, but for How Much Longer?)
Retailers are in focus after data revealed that retail sales for the month of April fell for a fourth straight month. Fast Retailing tanked 2.5 percent.
Mobile operator Softbank surged as much as 4 percent after reaching an agreement with U.S officials over details of their pending purchase of Sprint Nextel.
Australia Steady
The Australian dollar extended losses against the greenback to hit $0.9553, it's lowest level since October 2011.
This added greater pressure on banking stocks as international investors shed their Australian holdings due to the currency risk. All of Australia's 'Big 4' lenders were lower with Westpac leading losses by 1 percent.
(Read More: Aussie Dollar Is Now the World's 'Weakest Currency')
"The volumes through the market have been very strong, well above the normal averages. This means the market is approaching the end of the international repatriation stage, and could see the knife hitting the floor as yield-hunters jump back in," said Evan Lucas, market strategist, IG in a morning note.
Slot machine supplier Aristocrat Leisure rose 5.6 percent after raising its dividend following an 11 percent rise in half-year profits.
Shanghai Higher
The benchmark index extended gains to hit the 2,330 mark in early trade, its highest levels since March 217. The index has been on a winning streak for the month May, trading 6 percent above its 200-day simple moving average.
Shares of construction machinery group Zoomlion fell 2 percent after a Chinese media report accused the firm of reporting false sales figures.
Kospi Nears 2,000
Tech stocks lifted the benchmark index higher with flat screen maker LG Display leading gains by 2.5 percent and Samsung Electronics up by 0.7 percent.
Power companies are in focus after South Korean nuclear safety authorities topped the operation several nuclear reactors after discovering substandard parts in them.
Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company tanked 4 percent each.
— By CNBC.com's Nyshka Chandran. Follow her on Twitter @NyshkaCNBC
