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Hong Kong - Asian markets mostly fell on Thursday following a recent run of gains but Hong Kong and Shanghai traders cheered data showing Chinese imports rose in August for the first time in almost two years.
Regional shares have enjoyed a strong run since the start of the month, fuelled by optimism about the state of the US economy and the prospects of borrowing costs being kept at ultra-low levels until at least December.
But the rally petered out on Thursday as investors put their foot on the brake.
Tokyo was down 0.8% in the afternoon but the standout performer was Nintendo, which soared on news it had developed an exclusive Super Mario game for Apple.
Sydney lost one percent and Seoul shed 0.2%. Singapore, Wellington and Bangkok also suffered sharp losses.
"Volatility, or the lack thereof, is still the key driver in financial markets," Chris Weston, chief markets strategist in Melbourne at IG, said in an email, according to Bloomberg News.
"The Fed are not going to raise rates this year if they truly are data dependent and if they hike in December it would be an admittance that they are more dictated by a calendar-based guidance."
But Hong Kong was up 0.4% by the break while Shanghai pared almost all its early losses to end the morning flat following the Chinese figures.
China's customs department said August imports rose 1.5% on-year, the first increase in 22 months, while exports fell less than expected thanks to weakness in the country's yuan currency.
The figures marked a sharp turnaround from July and will raise hopes the world's number two economy and key driver of global growth is stabilising after years of slowing growth. The economy grew last year at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century.
In Tokyo gaming giant Nintendo soared 18% at one point after it announced with Apple that "Super Mario Run" would be available on the App Store this year. It ended the morning up 13.2%.
The news came after the global success of mobile game Pokemon Go, based other Nintendo characters, which has now been downloaded about half a billion times.
However, Japanese investors were left unimpressed by figures showing the economy grew just 0.7% on an annualised basis in April-June, well down from the 2.1% seen in the previous three months.
The figures are the latest to indicate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to kick-start the economy is having little impact, while they will also put pressure on the central bank to further loosen monetary policy.
On oil markets both main contracts extended recent gains on a softer dollar and industry data indicating US stockpiles sank last week.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry-funded group, said US inventories fell 12.1 million barrels last week, according to Bloomberg News.
The data bodes well for the release of official figures later in the day, which will provide a clearer idea about demand in the world's top economy.
In early afternoon trade West Texas Intermediate was up 72 cents at $46.22 and Brent crude 64 cents higher at $48.62.
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