ASIA MARKET CLOSE | Nikkei Sinks 1.7% on Yen Strength as Hong Kong Slips; Shanghai Edges Up

According to RTHK, HKET and the Korea Herald, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell sharply in the final hour to close at its day's low of 65,269.33, down 1,130.51 points or 1.70%, as a firmer yen weighed on exporters. The yen strengthened past 154 per dollar to a seven-month high after Japan's second-quarter GDP was revised up to a 1.4% annualized pace and nominal wage growth hit its fastest since 1997, reinforcing expectations of a Bank of Japan rate hike next week. Chip and tech names led the retreat, with Tokyo Electron down 3.30%, Sony down 3.33% and Advantest off 1.97%. Seoul's KOSPI turned lower late to end at 6,954.52, down 40.87 points or 0.58%. Samsung Electronics eased 0.19%, while SK Hynix bucked the trend with a 0.56% gain. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed down 95.94 points or 0.38% at 25,317.18, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.61%. Lenovo dropped about 6% and newly index-eligible Zhipu tumbled 10.02% to HK$916.00, while oil majors advanced, with PetroChina and CNOOC each rising close to 4%. Chip maker Longsys fell below its offer price on its trading debut. Among heavyweights, Tencent slipped 0.68% and Xiaomi fell 2.11%, while Meituan added 0.69%. Taiwan's TAIEX closed down 220.49 points or 0.47% at 47,105.78. TSMC rose 0.41%, while MediaTek fell 1.05% and Hon Hai declined 1.76%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite edged up 7.85 points or 0.20% to 3,940.55, a second straight advance, while the Shenzhen Component slipped 0.52% and the ChiNext fell 1.15%. Customs data showed China's August exports rose 25% year-on-year and imports jumped 28.2%.