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Market Update

Asian Shares End Mixed; Japan Slips on Data

Asian shares ended mostly higher but Japanese equities traded soft after the country's economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter.

At close, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India's Sensex and Australia's ASX rose 0.4% to 1.3%. Japan's Nikkei and China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

Shares traded broadly positive Thursday, tracking a positive close on Wall Street overnight, which rose following a recovery in commodity prices and after minutes of a Federal Reserve meeting released showed the central bank had not yet made up its mind on exiting its ultra-loose monetary policy.

The Japanese yen, however, fell in the aftermath of quarterly economic growth data, which showed the economy contracted by 0.9% in the January-March quarter--de-growth for the second consecutive quarter, officially signaling a dip again into recession.

Stocks on the Move

Utilities in Japan traded lower after Moody's Investors Service cut Tokyo Electric Power's debt rating to just above junk grade. Shares in Tepco lost 8% following the downgrade, while peers Tohoku Electric, Kansai Electric and Chubu Electric dropped 3.2% and 5.1%.

Automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan declined 0.3% to 0.9% while electronics majors Sony and Panasonic fell over 1% each.

In China, resource stocks fell after the CME upped margin requirements for metal-futures trading. Aluminum Corporation of China, Baoshan Iron & Steel and Yunnan Tin were off 1.1% to 1.3%.

But strength in oil stocks boosted the broader index in Hong Kong, with PetroChina, Sinopec and Sinopec added 0.5% to 1.5%.

In India, several index heavyweights, including the country's biggest company by market capitalization, Reliance Industries, rose over 1% each.

Shares in Larsen & Toubro 5.9% after the engineering major posted earnings, with net beating street estimates.

Resource stocks in Australia led the way, driven by higher commodity prices in the United States overnight. Aquila Resources Aurora Oil and Gas and Sandfire Resources climbed 5.6% to 7.7%.

Diversified miners BHP Biliton and Rio Tinto edged up over 1% each.

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