Asian stocks were a mixed bag on Thursday, as key indices pared early gains after tracking advances in the U.S. markets.
Markets were focused on a slew of economic data out from China, including Chinese consumer inflation for February. The CPI rose a higher-than-expected 2.7 percent year-on-year, adding to expectations that China will take more monetary tightening steps.
Japan's Nikkei Average rose 0.4 percent, with exporters such as Sony climbing on a weaker yen and after U.S. wholesale inventories fell unexpectedly in January.
Focus is on the Japan's fourth quarter GDP growth, which was revised downwards by the government to 0.9%, compared to the preliminary 1.1% figure. Analysts have been looking for a 1.0% growth, according to a Reuters poll.
Shinsei Bank fell nearly 2 percent after the Financial Times reported that the bank was preparing to issue new shares to raise about 75 billion yen ($830 million) in fresh capital.
The Nikkei gained 50 points to 10,614.8, after ending flat the previous day. The broader Topix added 0.8 percent to 930.07.
Sony jumped 2.7 percent to 3,465 yen and TDK climbed 2.3 percent to 5,760 yen. Honda Motor gained 0.9 percent to 3,275 yen.
Seoul shares gave up early gains to slip into negative territory but Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) rose on news Lone Star would resume selling its stake in the firm.
Reaction to the central bank's decision to keep rates on hold was muted. The Korea Central Bank has kept interest rates unchanged at a record low of 2 percent, as expected.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 0.19 percent at 1,659.4 points after rising for four consecutive session.
Shares in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) jumped 4.46 percent after news U.S. private equity fund Lone Star planned to resume selling its 51 percent stake in KEB, worth $3.9 billion at current market prices.
POSCO was flat after the world's No.4 steelmaker said late on Wednesday it would raise major steel product prices in the second quarter of this year by at least 20 percent.
Korean Air Line gained 1.2 percent and Asiana Airlines was flat, shrugging off news that South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed penalty fees on the carriers for obstructing the entrance of low-budget airlines into the sector.
The FTC levied fines of about 10.4 billion won ($9.21 million) on Korean Air and 640 million won on Asiana Airlines.
"The fees are pretty small, and these kinds of impositions by FTC are fairly common, so the impact on shares is limited," said Lee Kie-myung, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Australian stocks eased earlier gains, after surprisingly weak employment data which showed 400 jobs being added in February. A Reuters poll had expected an addition of 15,000 jobs. The jobless rate stayed steady at 5.3 percent.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index] was up 0.1 percent.
Top iron ore miner Rio Tinto rose 0.9 percent to A$76.00, while BHP Billiton was virtually flat at A$43.26, as analysts continued to raise their forecasts for iron ore pricing for the contract year beginning in April.
Atlas Iron rose 7 percent to A$2.47, an 18-month high, buoyed by its planned takeover of Aurox, which will boost its port capacity for exports, and rising expectations for iron ore prices.
Department store chain Myer rose 0.9 percent to A$3.50 after it beat first-half profit forecasts and stuck to its full year earnings forecast, which came as a relief as second half sales are expected to be near flat.
Top telecoms group Telstra rose 2.3 percent to A$3.06, bouncing off a record low hit last week, as the government's legislation to force the company to split looked increasingly unlikely to pass.
Markets in Hong Kong and China fell 0.6 percent each, as hotter-than-expected China CPI data raised speculation that the Chinese central bank will hike rates in the future.
Poly Development pared gains to 3.5 percent at HK$1.18 after rising as much as 9.6 percent to a seven-month high on news the investment firm said it planned to sell 425.91 million new shares at HK$1.14 each, raising HK$485.5 million for general working capital and for development of its Chinese medicine business.
China Mobile climbed 0.54 percent to HK$74.55 after the world's largest mobile carrier said it would buy 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank at a discount for $5.8 billion, a move it hopes will help it dominate the country's nascent mobile e-commerce market.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia's KLCI and Singapore's STI edged down 0.23 and 0.18 percent respectively
