05:43 AM EST, 03/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets turned in a choppy Wednesday as traders weighed China's outlook for macroeconomic stimulus and the waning earnings season.

Hong Kong gained, Shanghai lost ground, and Tokyo was stable. Other regional exchanges largely edged into the green.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower but rose to the close to finish nearly flat as soft tech issues were balanced by strength in automotive and bank shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 6.85 to 40,090.78, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 158 to 62.

Leading the upside was Kawasaki Heavy Industries, up 5.6%, while Lasertec declined 3.7%.

In other news, Uber Eats, an arm of Uber Technologies (UBER) has started autonomous-robot food deliveries in central Tokyo, reported the Mainichi newspaper

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly but rallied midday, finishing up 1.7%, partially fueled by optimism regarding the earnings outlook for e-commerce colossus JD.com.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 275.45 to 16,438.09, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 71 to eight. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 2.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.6%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi Biologics, gaining 9.1%, while insurer AIA fell 0.9%. JD.com rose 7.8%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% to 3,039.93.

In other news, senior policymakers from mainland China's National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China and China Securities Regulatory Commission vowed expanded efforts to boost the national economy in a rare joint press conference, reported the South China Morning Post.

On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 0.3%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.6%; the Australian ASX 200 gained 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.9%, and the Thai Set was up 0.8%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.6%.