Asia report: Markets mixed as Pokemon Go delayed

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed down 0.25% at 16,681.89, having finished at a six-week high on Tuesday.

Nintendo stock lost 12.61%, clawing back some of its losses after falling as much as 16%, though the drop made barely a dent in the company’s 100% climb since the release of Pokemon Go on 6 July.

It emerged during the session that the hotly-anticipated launch of the game in Japan - the home of the Pokemon franchise - had been postponed, after it was understood to be ready for release on Wednesday.

TechCrunch reported that gamemaker Niantic had decided to postpone the rollout after a leak revealed details of the launch from the game’s sponsor, McDonald’s Japan.

The yen traded around the 106 mark against the greenback for much of the session, and was last 0.46% weaker at JPY 106.61 per $1.

On the mainland the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.27% at 3,028.33, while the Shenzhen Composite was virtually flat at 2,035.84.

In South Korea, the Kospi ended 0.07% lower at 2,015.46, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.97% to finish at 21,882.48.

Shares in Singapore-listed Wilmar International lost 5.67% after the group announced it expects to post a net loss of around $230m for the second quarter, and lower profit for the first half to 30 June.

Analysts at CMB downgraded Wilmar to ‘reduce’ from ‘hold’ adding that the preliminary net loss figure was well below expectations for a profitable second quarter.

“Although the group had warned of a challenging operating environment in the second quarter, we had not expected it to sink into its first quarterly losses since listing,” CMB said.

“This is the first time that the profits of other segments were not able to cushion the losses from its oilseeds and grains division.

“This could raise concerns over the low visibility of the group's earnings,” the analysts added.

Oil prices were lower during Asian trading before recovering as Europe took the baton, with Brent crude last up 0.17% at $46.74 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.07% at $45.48.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.69% to finish at 5,488.70, with most subindexes finishing up, bar materials which lost 1.37%.

Miners remained the focus for many investors amid a slew of production reports.

BHP Billiton was the big release of the day, with fourth quarter iron ore production down 7% year-on-year and copper down 5%.

For the 2017 financial year, BHP says it expects between 228 MT and 237 MT of iron ore production, which excludes its Samarco mine in Brazil where a dam fatally burst in 2015.

Shares in the company were down 2.92%, as it flew narrowly below analyst expectations.

Other miners followed, with Fortescue Metals down 1.48% and Rio Tinto losing 2.02%.

New Zealand shares rose to another fresh record, with the S&P/NZX 50 gaining 0.3% to 7,172.67, led higher by accounting software firm Xero which added 3.5%.

The down under dollars were both weaker, as the Aussie last lost 0.14% to AUD 1.3344 per $1 and the Kiwi retreated 0.16% to NZD 1.4201.