Asian stock markets drifted lower on Thursday after the Dow snapped a three-day winning streak.
Japan's Nikkei stock average was flat in choppy trade on Thursday, pressured by a stronger yen, though slides were limited by encouraging U.S. economic data and hopes for progress on Greece's debt woes.
Elpida Memory gained after the chipmaker said it was in talks to buy the flash memory assets of U.S. company Spansion. Elpida rose 2.2 percent to 1,654 yen.
Mitsubishi Motors fell over 7 percent after it and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen failed to agree on terms for a capital alliance but said on Wednesday they would continue talking about expanding business ties.
The benchmark Nikkei 225] edged down 2.96 points to 10,250.18 after seesawing between positive and negative, while the broader Topix lost 0.1 percent to 905.08.
Metal stocks such as Sumitomo Metal Mining climbed after copper prices rose to a seven-week high on Wednesday as the dollar fell against the euro, making metals cheaper for non-U.S. investors amid signs that demand was improving cropped up in the U.S. and Asia.
Seoul shares rose slightly on Thursday helped by gains in shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding, while automakers including Hyundai Motor continued to outperform.
But declines in securities firms such as Woori Investment & Securities weighed.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.10 percent at 1,624.11 points.
Strong rises in shipbuilders helped the market after the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of shipping key commodities, posted a firm 4.26 percent gain.
Samsung Heavy Industries advanced 1.02 percent and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding rose 1.27 percent.
Automakers including Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors continued to outperform after they posted firm rises in the previous session on the back of strong February sales data.
Australian stocks were little changed early as late jitters on Wall Street unner investors, offsetting support from miners after commodity prices rose overnight.
U.S. stocks frittered away gains in late trade to end little changed on Wednesday as worries on corporate profit over bank regulation and healthcare reforms took center stage.
The latest draft proposals to regulate the financial sector, including provisions to stop proprietary trading at banks, pressured financials, while investors worried over President Barack Obama's attempts to revive his healthcare overhaul.
Top miner BHP Billiton climbed over 1 percent and Rio Tinto rose 0.5 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ] was up 0.15 percent at 4,743.10 points. It rose 0.7 percent on Wednesday.
Gloucester Coal was up 1.3 percent after its independent directors recommended the Macarthur Coal's takeover offer. Macarthur was gained 0.7 percent.
Bank stocks such as No.2 lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia, No.3 Westpac and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group all fell around 0.5 percent after U.S. moves on banking regulation hit sentiment for the sector.
Wesfarmers rose 1.3 percent after the company raised 500 million euro in medium term notes to repay short-term debt.
Newcrest Mining climbed nearly 2 percent and Lihir Gold 0.7 percent after gold rose to 6-½ week highs on Wednesday.
HK, China Erase Early Gains
Hong Kong shares lost early gains to trade marginally lower on Thursday, but investor appetite for some Chinese stocks remained strong on hopes of new policy measures from China to support its industries, and Standard Chartered cushioning losses after posting strong earnings.
Standard Chartered rose to its highest open in six-weeks. The bank also said it planned to raise $500 million to $750 million through an issue of depositary receipts in India during the second quarter of 2010. StanChart shares jumped 5 percent.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index trimmed early gains to fall 0.1 percent at 20,842.08. The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks was down 0.7 percent.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) had eased 0.68 percent to HK$131.90 after a firm start. The world's largest exchange operator by market value is due to announce its profit for the October-December quarter of 2009 on Thursday. The bank posted HK$1.2 billion a year earlier. Sixteen analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S gave a consensus forecast of HK$1.32 billion.
China Mobile extended losses from the previous session by a further 2.5 percent to a more than four-week low of HK$72.85. China's top mobile carrier said it was in talks to buy a stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, to form an alliance that could speed up its move into e-commerce.
China Railway Construction fell over 3 percent to a three-week low. The group said it planned to conduct a private placement of 1.035 billion yuan-denominated A shares, up to half of which would be issued to its parent, to raise up to 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion).
Taiwan stocks recovered ground to stand 0.24 percent higher on Thursday after falling on concerns a strong earthquake that hit the island could have caused damage, with chip maker TSMC down on fears about its production sites.
The Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.7 percent at 3074.37.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.3 percent.
