Asian stocks mixed as traders await ECB; Nikkei down 0.46%

Asian stocks traded mixed Thursday in cautious trade, ahead of a holiday in the U.S., as traders eyed the European Central Bank meeting later Thursday. 

In Asian trading Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.46% while the Topix was off 0.3% on below average volume. USD/JPY traded slightly lower as traders turned to the yen as a safe-haven play amid ongoing unrest in Egypt. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.5% while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.9%. Energy shares in Hong Kong got a lift after oil continued to rally on the Egypt headlines. Cnooc, China’s third-largest oil company, was among the sector’s standouts. 

On Wednesday, Citigroup said emerging markets equities are as cheap as they have been in a year and those attractive valuations could lure buyers to the downtrodden asset class. 

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1% as energy and mining shares contributed to the upside. AUD/USD bounced back from three-year lows seen Wednesday. New Zealand’s NZSE 50 inched up 0.15%. 

The European Central Bank meets later Thursday and while ECB President Mario Draghi was expected to reiterate that an exit from loose monetary policy remains distant, traders will also be listening for what Draghi has to say about the situation in Portugal. 

Yields on Portuguese sovereign debt spiked this week after two of the nation’s financial ministers resigned. Yields on Portuguese 10-years hit 8% for the first time since November. Most economists expect the ECB to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.5%. 

South Korea’s Kopsi added 0.16%. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs issued an overweight view on South Korean stocks. Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.6%. 

S&P 500 futures rose 0.17%. U.S. markets are closed Thursday in observance of the Independence Day holiday.