Asian Stocks End Mixed; China Weak

Shares in Asia closed mixed Thursday, but Chinese markets traded pressured after inflation was seen to be rising, leading to monetary policy-tightening concerns.

At close, mainland China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Japan's Nikkei ended 0.1% higher after swerving on either sides of the flat line while Australia's ASX lost 0.5%. Indian stock exchanges remained shut due to a national holiday.

Technology stocks rose in Japan, boosting the markets, following gains in U.S. peers overnight.

Stocks on the Move

In Tokyo, technology stocks led by Elpida Memory, which jumped 5% on a broker upgrade, provided a boost to the index. Peers Renesas, Toshiba and NEC rose 2% to 3.9%.

Banks, however, were subdued with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial ending 0.3% lower.

In China, resource and property stocks declined and an inflation report further dampened sentiment.

CNOOC lost 1.1% in Hong Kong while Air China dropped 3%. In developer stocks, Poly Real Estate declined 2.2% in Shanghai.

While in Sydney, diversified metals miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto erased 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively, while gold miner Newcrest Mining was off 0.8%.