05:52 AM EST, 12/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, as traders weighed pending central bank decisions and new incentives from Beijing for listed, state-owned enterprises.

Hong Kong and Shanghai gained ground, while Tokyo finished in the red. Other regional exchanges were similarly mixed.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 0.7% as traders awaited a Bank of Japan rate decision, slated for Thursday, and also the pending US Federal Reserve rate announcement.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 282.97 to 39,081.71, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 144 to 78.

Leading the upside was Nissan Motor, gaining 23.7% on media reports of a possible merger with Honda Motors. Automaker shares generally gained in Tokyo on the outlook for a possible wave of industry consolidations.

In other news, chipmaker Kioxia debuted on the Tokyo stock market, closing 11.2% above its initial price offering in Japan's second-largest IPO of 2024.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and traded sideways, finishing up 0.8% after Beijing indicated it may rate state-owned enterprise stock-market performance when evaluating corporate leadership.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 164.07 to 19,864.55, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 70 to 12. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.8% on the day, while Mainland Properties Index rose 0.4%.

Leading the upside was Li Auto, gaining 5.5%, while Anta Sports Products declined 2.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 3,382.21.

In economic news, Beijing's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) said it will take into account SOE listed-shares performance, and that SOE managers should promote share repurchases, mergers and higher dividends, reported the South China Morning Post.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.1%; the Taiwan TWSE added 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.5%, and the Thai Set added 0.2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.6%.