05:42 AM EST, 11/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets tracked lower Wednesday on overnight Wall Street cues and the unfolding earnings season. Easing commodities prices dented resource issues.

Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the red, although Shanghai notched a gain. Most other regional exchanges lost ground.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly but declined to the close, finishing off 1.7% as traders mulled a producer prices report and earnings season results.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 654.43 to 38,721.66, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 175 to 48.

Leading the upside was electronics outfit Shapr Global, up 13.8%, while video gamemaker Nexon declined 17.5%, with both moves following earnings reports.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index, or PPI, rose 3.4% on year in October, a stiffer rise than in recent months and possibly signaling inflation challenges for the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 0.1% as traders again eschewed property issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 23.43 to 19,823.45, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 52 to 23. The Hang Seng TECH Index was steady on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.4%.

Leading the upside was auto-dealer chain Zhongsheng, gaining 7.6%, while Wuxi AppTec declined 4.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 3,439.28.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 2.6%; the Taiwan TWSE lost 0.5%; the Australian ASX 200 retreated 0.8%; the Singapore Straits Times Index gained 0.2%, and the Thai Set added 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 1.3%.