MW: Asian shares lower, but resource stocks hold gains
By Myra P. Saefong
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Asian stock markets turned mostly lower in afternoon trading Thursday, trading in tight ranges ahead of the U.S. jobs data due Friday, but shares of most resource stocks continued to climb after sizable gains in commodity prices in New York. Japan's Nikkei 225 and broader Topix each lost 0.3%. Shares of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (JP:7211 132.00, +1.00, +0.76%) (MMTOF 1.43, 0.00, 0.00%) dropped 9% after it ended capital tie-up talks with PSA Peugeot-Citroen. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 0.4% with banking stocks mainly lower. Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988 3.92, -0.10, -2.48%) (BACHF 0.51, -0.01, -1.92%) shares lost 1.5%. Meanwhile, gains in resource stocks helped Australia's market, lifting the S&P/ASX 500 by 0.1%, with shares of Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AU:AQP 6.59, +0.28, +4.44%) (AQPBF 5.90, +0.35, +6.31%) up 3.8% and Equinox Minerals Ltd. (EQXM.F 3.49, +0.23, +7.15%) up 2.1%. Seoul's Kopsi was down 0.4%.
