Asian markets traded mixed on Wednesday, despite U.S. gains following remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen . Shares of Toshiba (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6502.T-JP) tumbled.
Toshiba shares dropped 8.75 percent to end at 209.7 yen in Tokyo after Reuters reported the company expected to book a $6.3 billion hit to its U.S. nuclear unit and expected to sell more of its prized flash-memory chip business to urgently raise funds. Reuters added, citing a source, that the Japanese company's loans from banks and insurers stood at $7 billion.
Nomura said in a note dated Feb. 14, it was changing its rating on Toshiba from Buy to Suspended. Analyst Masaya Yamasaki said in the note that Nomura's view on Toshiba had centered on the potential for the memory business.
"The company announced for the first time today that it is considering selling a majority stake in the memory business along with other options for injecting capital from outside sources, making it difficult to price in the memory business' potential," said Yamasaki.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Toshiba chairman Shigenori Shiga would resign from his post effective Wednesday, while the former chief executive of Toshiba's U.S. nuclear-plant business Westinghouse Electric, Danny Roderick, was stripped of his executive post, the Journal said.
In other Japanese corporate activity, internet and telecom giant SoftBank (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984.T-JP) announced a $3.3 billion cash acquisition of asset manager Fortress Investment Group. SoftBank shares climbed 1.58 percent to 8,670 yen.
Japanese banks and financial companies finished higher, with Mitsubishi UFJ (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8306.T-JP) up 1.71 percent, SMFG (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8316.T-JP) up 1.37 percent and Mizuho Financial (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8411.T-JP) gaining 1.15 percent.
The Nikkei Stock Average (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) climbed 199 points, or 1.03 percent, to finish at 19,437.98, while the Topix (Exchange:.SPTPXN) added 14.57 points, or 0.95 percent, to 1,553.69. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) finished up 9.29 points, or 0.45 percent, at 2,083.86.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) added 1.29 percent in late-afternoon trade, while Chinese mainland shares slipped slightly by market close. The Shanghai (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) composite fell 5.20 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,212.71, while the Shenzhen (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJSZ) composite shed 17.28 points, or 0.88 percent, to 1,947.04.
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 (^AXJO) climbed 53.83 points, or 0.94 percent, to 5,809.07, as most sectors finished higher. The heavily-weighted financial sector was up 1.70 percent, with major banks gaining more than 1 percent each.