06:45 AM EDT, 03/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets finished unevenly on Wednesday, as investors mulled uncertain signals from Washington on trade, and currency movements.

Tokyo gained modestly, while Hong Kong and Shanghai finished in the red. Other regional exchanges were also choppy.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly, waffled but finished up 0.1% as a softer yen assisted export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 25.98 to 36,819.09, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 136 to 87.

Leading the upside was Mitsubishi Electric, up 6.3%, while Lasertec, a maker of equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing, declined 5.4%.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index was unchanged in February sequentially, but pushed by food and utility bills was still up 4% on year, reported the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly but declined thereafter, finishing off 0.8% as traders weighed the evolving outlook for global trade.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 181.83 to 23,600.31, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 57 to 21. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.4%.

Leading the upside was natural-gas supplier ENN Energy, gaining 4.4%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 7%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,371.93.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.5%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.2%, and the Thai Set inclined 2.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.1%.