Asian stocks swung between gains and losses on an uncertain day. Tech stocks are good, those linked to raw materials are bad.
On the stock front, Treasury Wine Estates jumped an impressive 20% in Sydney after the world's second-largest wine company rejected a takeover offer.
Hyundai Development Co-Engineering & Construction instead lost 3,3% in Seoul, marking the worst performance on the list. Yahoo Japan rose 9,5% on ratings increases following its decision not to buy eAccess from SoftBank.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index was narrowly changed at 139.30 as of 10:56am in Tokyo after falling 0,2% and rising just under 0,1%. To weigh the political uncertainty in Thailand: the Thai army has imposed martial law throughout the country after months of political clashes that have sunk the government and led the country towards economic contraction.
“The market lacks a catalyst,” said Junya Naruse, chief strategist of Daiwa Securities Group, Japan's second largest brokerage firm. The situation in Thailand "does not create a geopolitical risk, but continues to weigh on the markets".
Japan's Topix rose 0,3% in the morning, off its monthly lows. South Korea's Kospi, on the other hand, lost 0,4 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and New Zealand's NZX 50 both lost 0,4 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng recovered 0,7 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index of mainland Chinese companies (+0,5%), the Shanghai Composite (+0,4%) and the Taiex (+0,3%) also performed well.
