CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday as Apple's profit warning and political instability in Washington added to global growth concerns. Australian markets bucked the weak trend as a 'flash crash' in the local currency bolstered resource stocks.
The Japanese market was closed for a public holiday. China's Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 2,464.36 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.26 percent to 25,064.36.
Australian shares rose the most in a week as the Aussie dollar hit a 10-year low, helping lift resource stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 1.36 percent to close at 5,633.40 after ending down 1.6 percent the previous day in reaction to weak Chinese data. The broader All Ordinaries index rallied 1.23 percent to end at 5,694.60.
Gold miners Newcrest and Evolution Mining jumped 4-5 percent after gold prices hit over six-month highs overnight. Lithium producer Pilbara Minerals soared 16 percent after it secured funding for an expansion of its Pilgangoora lithium mine.
The big four banks rose 1-2 percent. Insurance Australia Group advanced 1.5 percent after the company increased reinsurance program for catastrophes by A$1 billion to A$9 billion for 2019.
Energy stocks such as Oil Search, Origin Energy, Woodside Petroleum and Santos rallied 2-4 percent after crude oil prices rose more than 2 percent overnight.
Healthcare firm Healius Ltd, formerly known as Primary Health Care, jumped 7.8 percent after it received takeover offer from a top shareholder.
Seoul stocks hit two-month low as Apple's iPhone warning added to investor concerns over slowing global growth. The benchmark Kospi shed 0.81 percent to finish at 1,993.70, the lowest level since Oct. 30. Shares of tech heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 3.0 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.
South Korea's manufacturing activity decreased at a slower rate in December, as inflationary pressures eased and business confidence improved, data from IHS Markit showed. The headline IHS Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 49.8 from 48.6 in November.
New Zealand shares fell sharply on the first trading session of the year. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 78.90 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 8,732.37.
Kathmandu Holdings shares fell as much as 13.5 percent after the outdoor retail giant posted lower than expected sales during the Christmas period.
Overnight, U.S. stocks recovered early losses to finish modestly higher on the first trading day of 2019. The Dow and the S&P 500 inched up around 0.1 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added half a percent.
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