The leading Asian stock exchanges started Thursday's trading in different directions.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index had fallen by 1.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively, after a few hours of trading.
It was relatively gloomy also in South Korea where the Kospi index fell by 0.2 percent.
From Hong Kong, there was neither a decline nor an increase when the Hang Seng index fluctuated around zero.
It was unchanged also with Shenzhen's composite index, while Shanghai's equivalent increased by 0.4 percent.
