Shares in Asia were mostly lower on Thursday, other than in Tokyo, where shares were bolstered by stronger than expected Chinese manufacturing data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 133 points at 10,620 in Tokyo while the broader Topix rose 1.1% to 897 in lighter than usual trade. The Hang Seng declined 36 points at 23,598.

The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing PMI rose to a two-year high of 51.9 in January versus a final reading of 51.5 in December.

Accelerating growth in Chinese manufacturing helped shares in Japan overcome under whelming earnings reports from Apple and Hyundai Motor.

Sentiment was hurt early on after Apple's iPhone sales figures. Apple shipped 47.8m iPhones in the quarter to December, lower than the 50m expected by market analysts. Otherwise the group reported little changed first-quarter earnings, weaker than expected revenue and issued a disappointing forecast.

Shares of Ibiden which makes circuit boards for the iPhone, tumbled 4.7%.

The weaker yen and the China PMI lifted risk appetite in Tokyo with investors picking up a broad rage of construction firms. Komatsu, which relies heavily on exports to China, rallied 2.2% while Hitachi Construction increased 1.9%.

Kyocera climbed 2.9%, Honda Motor bulked up 2%, Panasonic added 1.2% and Toyota Motor increased 2.2%.

Toshiba rallied 4% on reports that it General Electric will sign a global strategic agreement to develop and sell fossil fuel power equipment.

Yaskawa Electric sank 8.8% after it posted a 39% fall in operating profit in the nine months to December, after sluggish demand for its products in China and Europe.

Shares in Hong Kong traded in the red with many suppliers to Apple enduring a sharp sell-off.

China Mobile skidded 2% after JP Morgan downgraded the stock from "neutral" to "underweight," citing concern about future earnings.


CJ

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