Asia stocks extended their gains into Wednesday, with most major markets ending higher, and with Japanese shares advancing as the yen hit its lowest levels against the dollar and euro since 2011. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average finished 1.5% higher, adding to its 1.4% rally on Tuesday. Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.5% in late trading, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended with a 0.3% gain after a choppy, range-bound session following its 2.5% surge the previous day. South Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's Taiex lagged the region, with each closing little changed, while bourses in Hong Kong and Australia remained shut for holiday, with both due to reopen Thursday. The gains for Japanese equities got help from a further decline in the yen, with the currency's losses accelerating after the minutes from the Bank of Japan's November meeting showed a dovish tilt and some determination to drive the yen lower. Read: Yen hits year's low, with other pairs steady The weaker yen, in turn, helped fuel gains for exporter shares. Among the winners, Panasonic Corp. rose 2.8%, Fujitsu Ltd. gained 4.1%, Advantest Corp. added 4.2%, and Mazda Motor Corp. advanced 3.3%. Shares of Sony Corp. jumped 4% as a Nikkei news report said the firm's Chinese sales had returned to the levels seen before a territorial dispute with China triggered protests and boycotts of Japanese goods there. Brokerage shares also continued their winning ways from the Tuesday session, when they saw strong gains from reported foreign buying. Nomura Holdings Inc. advanced 2.8%, while rival Daiwa Securities Group Inc. added 2.6%. Hitachi Ltd. added 2.1% after its president told the Nikkei business daily that the firm may reorganize its medical business. Sharp Corp. more than undid its 7.5% tumble in the previous session to zoom 15.4% higher Wednesday, with a separate Nikkei report saying the company had developed a technology to recycle glass from used LCD panels. On the downside, shares of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. dropped 1.2%, extending losses from its recent vehicle-recall woes. Over in Shanghai, real-estate shares stuck to their upward momentum after rallying Tuesday. Shares of Poly Real Estate Group Co. traded 2% higher Wednesday, while rival Gemdale Corp. added another 2.2% to its share price. China Vanke Co. , which saw its stock price jump 6% the previous day, placed its Shenzhen-traded shares on halt, pending an unspecified price-sensitive announcement. Chinese banking shares — which were also a strong spot in the previous session — traded mostly lower, however, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. losing 1.5%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. down 1.1%. In Seoul, many blue-chip shares rose early as investors returning from the Christmas holiday caught up with Tuesday's regional rally. But by the end of trading, the market turned mixed, with some morning gainers swinging to losses. Samsung Electronics Co. , for instance, was up more than 1% in the early going, only to finish down 0.3%. Its shares had jumped more than 2% Monday in the wake of a report that it's targeting an approximately 20% rise in its mobile-phone sales for the coming year. Samsung's chip-making rival SK Hynix Inc. closed with a 1.2% gain, while LG Display Co. advanced 0.5%, but LG Electronics Inc. lost 1.1%, and Hana Financial Group Inc. dropped 0.9%. Marketwatch
