06:36 AM EDT, 03/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were choppy Wednesday as most regional stock markets gained, but gloomy sentiments prevailed on China's trading floors.

Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground, while Tokyo finished in the green.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 0.9% on expectations the nation's central bank will not substantially tighten monetary policy. The Japanese yen traded to a 34-year low against the US dollar, near 152 to the greenback.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 364.70 to 40,762.73, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 170 to 52.

Leading the upside was Sumitomo Realty & Development, up 5.2%, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries fell 2.9%.

In economic news, "hawkish" Bank of Japan board member Naoki Tamura said short-term interest rates would remain near zero despite the central bank ending negative interest rates last week, reported The Mainichi newspaper.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, closing down 1.4% as sentiments weakened after e-commerce colossus Alibaba abruptly canceled IPO plans for its logistics unit. Also, BYD, China's largest EV maker, warned of a sales slowdown in its Q4 and 2023 earnings report.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 225.48 to 16,392.84, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 63 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.6%.

Leading the upside was knitwear-maker Shenzhou International, up 10.5%, while China Mengniu Dairy fell 9.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.3% to 2,993.14.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.5%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.6%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.7%.

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