It was tough for leading indexes on Asian stock exchanges in Thursday's first hours of trading when traders seemed to feel cooler winds, with more risk in the air. The frost between the USA and Ukraine, and what it can imply for further geopolitics, also dampened the mood.
In Tokyo, both the Nikkei 225 index and the broader Topix were down, minus 1.6 percent.
In Shanghai and Shenzhen, the composite indexes moved around zero, minus 0.2 percent and up 0.1 percent, respectively.
In Hong Kong, it was sharply down, largely due to a recoil after several days' rise for Chinese tech companies. The Hang Seng index stood at minus 1.5 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi index was down half a percent.
