Investing.com - Shares in Shanghai dropped on Thursday though Tokyo gained as investors weighed prospects for easy policies.
The Shanghai Composite slumped 3.61%, with the yuan down against the dollar for a third consecutive session Thursday after the People's Bank of China again set a weaker fixing at 6.5334.
Earlier, China's Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said Thursday that the country will continue with a managed exchange rate in the interest of stability, but that there is more room on the fiscal side for policy aims.
A registration system for initial public offerings becomes effective next week in China, leading to some concern on how it will work.Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.98%.
The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.04%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.85%.
Bank of Japan board member Takahide Kiuchi Thursday warned against side-effects of the negative interest rate policy and argued that 2% inflation that the bank is trying to achieve is too high for Japan's near-zero growth potential.
In Australia, building capital expenditure for the fourth quarter rose 1.2%, beating a decline of 4.7% seen month-on-month, as well as plant/machinery capital expenditure rose 0.1%, from an 8.5% drop previously, and private new capital expenditure gained 0.8%, compared to a 3.0% drop expected.
"Although the fourth quarter Australia private capital expenditure data was stronger than expected, the much weaker than expected estimation of future capital expenditure will be concerning for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)," Capital Economics said in a note to clients.
"The first estimate for nominal private capex in 2016/17 was weaker than expected at $82.6bn (consensus $92.8bn, CE $95bn), and well below the first estimate for 2015/16 of $102.6bn. Given that this estimate provides an initial gauge of the strength of the investment environment over the coming financial year, this disappointing result is concerning."
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Technology and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.32%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.44%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.87%.