06:33 AM EDT, 09/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday, as most trading floors tracked higher as interest rates eased, while China-exposed exchanges declined on heavy mainland selling.

Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground, while Tokyo finished in the green, along with most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close on Wall Street cues, and finishing up 1.5% as traders also weighed marginal easing in Japanese government bond yields.

Also, a soft US job market report Wednesday increased the outlook for a rate-cut from the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 641.38 to 42,580.27, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 175 to 49.

Leading the upside was tech-financier SoftBank, up 6.5%, while electric-motor maker Nidec declined 22.4% after disclosing the formation of a committee to investigate accounting irregularities.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly but declined through the day, finishing off 1.1% on tech-sector softness.

Traders also viewed media reports that Beijing may ease regulations on short-sellers, considered a sign China officials may feel the stock market is over-valued after recent bull moves.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 284.92 to 25,058.51, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 56 to 27. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.9% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3%.

Leading the upside was search-engine titan Baidu, gaining 2.1%, while auto-dealer chain Zhongsheng declined 8.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.3% to 3,765.88.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.5%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.3%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.2%, and the Thai Set declined 0.5%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.2%.