Asian Markets Mixed on Profit-Taking and Syria Worries

Asia markets were mixed on Wednesday as market participants took profits, following strong gains earlier this week, just as the prospect of US military action in Syria pulled down the overall sentiment in the region.

The Japanese Nikkei finished 0.54% higher or 75.43 points at 14,053.87.

Australia's S&P/ASX finished 0.67% lower or 35.00 points at 5,161.60.

South Korea's Kospi finished 0.04% lower or 0.71 points at 1,933.03.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading 0.05% lower or 11.21 points to 22,383.37.

The Shanghai Composite was trading 0.06% higher or 1.33 points to 2,124.45.

President Barack Obama has gained the support of key US senators for a military strike against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Republican and Democratic senators have concurred on a draft resolution pushing for military action. "I believe that my colleagues should support this call for action," John Boehner, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters following the hearing. The draft prohibits the use of ground forces and limits the intervention to 60 days.

The proposal will be put to vote next week when Congress reconvenes.

Wall Street Up

On Wall Street, indices ended higher however concerns surrounding US action in Syria capped gains.

The Dow finished 23.65 points higher at 14,833.96. The S&P 500 closed 6.80 points higher at 1,639.77 while the Nasdaq ended 22.74 points higher at 3,612.61.

Company Stock Movements

In Sydney, iron ore miner Fortescue Metals lost 2.5% while resources major BHP Billiton lost 0.8%.

Westpac Banking was down 0.7% while Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 0.5%.

Gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated added 2% on higher gold prices.

In Tokyo, utility firm Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) lost 4% after Japan's nuclear watchdog said that radiation readings at the polluted Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have hit a record high.

Commercial vehicles maker Hino Motors lost about 4%, while rival Isuzu Motors was down 3%. Suzuki Motor shed 1%.

Automaker Honda Motor shed 0.3%. The Nikkei newspaper reported that Honda could increase its annual dividend for the year ending March as it expected higher earnings.

Camera-maker Canon shot up 3.5% after the company said that it would spend ¥50bn ($502m) to buy back up to 1.6% of its outstanding shares, or 18 million shares.

In Hong Kong, China Construction Bank lost 2.4% after Bank of America sold its remaining stake in the lender for $1.5bn.

In Seoul, index heavyweight Samsung Electronics lost 1% ahead of the roll out of its Galaxy Note 3 device at Berlin's IFA show. LG Display was down2%.

Hyundai Motor added 0.4% after it unveiled its Grand i10 subcompact car on 3 September.