CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended Thursday's session on a muted note after the United States House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The move to impeach Trump relates to his alleged efforts to coerce Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden as well as his alleged attempts to obstruct the Congressional investigation.
Republicans currently hold a 53 to 45 majority in the Senate, with two Democratic-leaning independents, and removing Trump from office would require a two-thirds vote in favor.
Several Senate Republicans have already indicated they will not vote to remove Trump from office even before the Senate holds its trial on the House charges.
Chinese shares ended little changed in the absence of many of the fine details of the trade deal announced last week. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished marginally higher at 3,017.07 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 0.30 percent at 27,800.49.
Japanese shares dropped from a 14-month high as the Bank of Japan left its massive monetary stimulus unchanged and maintained its upbeat view on the economy despite the sales tax hike hurting spending.
The Nikkei average gave up 69.58 points, or 0.29 percent, to end at 23,864.85 while the broader Topix index closed 0.13 percent lower at 1,736.11.
Technology conglomerate Hitachi jumped 4.6 percent on restructuring news. Hitachi Chemical soared 11.8 percent while Fujifilm Holdings, the buyer of Hitachi's imaging business, advanced 2.1 percent.
Isuzu Motors tumbled 3.7 percent after it announced a deal to buy UD Trucks from Sweden's Volvo AB.
Australian markets gave up early gains to end lower as investors avoided making big bets ahead of the Christmas break.
Also, a government report showed that Australia's employment rebounded strongly in November, diminishing hopes of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The Australian economy added 39,900 jobs last month to 12,954,400, blowing away expectations for an increase of 15,000 jobs following the loss of 19,000 jobs a month earlier.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 18.30 points, or 0.27 percent, to 6,833.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 14.40 points, or 0.21 percent, at 6,942.60.
Tech stocks surged, with Wisetech Global rising 1.9 percent and Link Administration Holdings adding 1.4 percent.
QBE Insurance Group edge up slightly, a day after flagging higher claims payouts at its North American crop business in 2019.
Lynas Corp fell 1.3 percent after saying its project to build a rare earths-processing plant in Kalgoorlie will get planning assistance from the WA state government.
Seoul stocks ended on a flat note as investors continued to cash in gains from a recent rally. The benchmark Kospi ended a choppy session up 1.8 points at 2,196.56. Samsung C&T, Samsung's construction unit, soared 4.4 percent.
New Zealand shares rose sharply with the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ending up 151.05 points, or 1.33 percent, at 11,480.61, hitting a record high after GDP data for the three months to the end of September topped forecasts on robust retail spending.
GDP expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent sequentially in the third quarter of 2019 - beating forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent following the 0.1 percent gain in the three months prior.
U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as FedEx plunged on disappointing results and traders kept an eye on developments on Capitol Hill, where House Democrats prepared to vote to impeach President Trump.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent to a new record closing high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 finished marginally lower.
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