SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian markets ended mostly higher Wednesday, with resources shares pushing Australia's market to touch a six-week high, but Japanese shares drifted lower after weaker-than-expected exports data. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1%. China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tacked on 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were one point lower in screen trade. "This might be time for positioning for profit in the new year. Watch, however, for a little more choppiness in the markets before a clear short-term trend is established," said SIAS Research technical analyst Edmund Seow in Singapore. In Japan, shares fell on profit-taking ahead of a market holiday Thursday, weighed after data showed exports in November rose 9.1% from a year earlier, missing economists' forecast for a 10.8% rise, but marking the first rise in the pace of export growth in nine months. Sanyo Electric dropped 5.1% and Panasonic Electric Works lost 4.6% after Panasonic Corp. announced the share swap ratio for turning the pair into wholly owned subsidiaries. The Japanese electronics giant said it will swap one Sanyo share for 0.115 Panasonic share, and one Panasonic Electric Works share for 0.925 Panasonic share, effective April 1. Panasonic shares gave up 1.5%. Canon gained 1.9% after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company may log an operating profit of over Y500 billion in 2011, a target analysts call aggressive but achievable on the back of robust sales of digital cameras. Real estate shares outperformed, with Mitsui Fudosan adding 2.3%, Mitsubishi Estate rising 1.7% and Sumitomo Realty & Development gaining 2.3%. "The BOJ is committed to maintaining its current quantitative easing policy until it can expect to see a sustained rise in asset prices," Credit Suisse analyst Masahiro Mochizuki said in a report. "We interpret this to mean that it (the central bank) will continue to support J-REITs until real estate prices rise in response to a decline in risk premiums." Gains in resources plays on strength in offshore commodities helped to push Sydney shares higher, with BHP Billiton up 0.9% and Fortescue Metals up 1.2%. Energy Resources fell 5.5%, extending Tuesday's 9.3% decline on the company's announcement of a reduction in its reserves and profit forecasts. In China, most banks fell after a China Securities Journal report citing unnamed sources said the People's Bank of China may start setting lending quotas for banks based on their capital adequacy ratio, liquidity conditions, provisions for bad loans and loan-to-deposit ratio, rather than setting an annual loan quota for the country's banking sector. "The report is negative for banks. Besides more limits on the loans the banks can extend, (the report) also hints that banks may have to set aside greater provisions for their existing loans," said Southwest Securities analyst Zhang Gang. China Construction Bank's Hong Kong shares shed 1.0% and its Shanghai ones lost 0.4%. Sinopec was one of the biggest blue-chip gainers in Hong Kong, rising 2.4% after an unexpected fuel price hike in China. "Given the prevailing concerns about inflation, the price hike at the pump may be taken by investors that China's inflation is under control...hence it further lowers the chances of a short-term interest rate hike," SHK Financial analyst Daniel So said. In Seoul, gains in auto shares on expectations of solid fourth-quarter earnings helped to offset selling by domestic institutions, with Hyundai Motor adding 2.3% and Kia Motors climbing 4.5%. "Overseas sales are likely to be better than expected in December," said Hyundai Securities analyst Chae Hee-guen. Among other markets, New Zealand's NZX-50 edged up 0.1%, Philippine shares added 0.5%, Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.1%, Thailand's SET tacked on 0.6%, Indonesian shares dropped 0.5%, Malaysia's KLCI added 0.7%, Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.4% and India's Sensex shed 0.2%. In the foreign-exchange markets, the U.S. dollar traded broadly lower after Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negocios reported, citing no sources, that China is willing to invest EUR4 billion to EUR5 billion in Portuguese bonds to help the European country refinance its sovereign debt in the first quarter of next year. The euro was buying $1.3136 from $1.3099 late in New York on Tuesday, and Y109.70 from Y109.68. The dollar was buying Y83.50, compared with Y83.75. Lead Japanese government bond futures were up 0.23 at 139.85 points, tracking Tuesday's gains in U.S. Treasurys. The yield on the key 10-year cash JGB was down 3.5 basis points at 1.140%. Spot gold was at $1,388.60 per troy ounce, up $3.10 from its New York close on Tuesday. February Nymex crude-oil futures were up 34 cents at $90.16 per barrel on Globex. -Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; markettalk@dowjones.com TALK BACK: We invite readers to send us comments on this or other financial news topics. 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