Thursday Asian stocks ended mostly lower with investors locking in profits ahead of US jobs data due out later in the day. 

Thus, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average closed at 9876.15 down 0.6%, at the same time Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.1% to finish at 18178.05 as trading resumed after Wednesday's holiday. South Korea's Kospi ended flat and New Zealand's NZX 50 closed 0.4% lower. As for China's Shanghai Composite, it rose by 1.7% , setting its highest level in 13 months, while Taiwan's Taiex added1.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.1% higher. At the same time, India's Sensex was lost 0.8% and Singapore's Straits Times fell by 1.2%.

So, most regional markets opened strongly during the session, buoyed by strong manufacturing data Wednesday from China and the US But by late afternoon, some of them turned downwards, tracking a retreat in US stock futures and a weak opening for European markets. 

Financial and property stocks led the decline, thus, HSBC lost 2.6% and Cheung Kong fell by 2.1% in Hong Kong. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial weakened by 1% and Mitsui Fudosan shrunk by 2.4% in Tokyo. 

During Singapore afternoon trading, DBS Group Holdings slipped by 2.5% and CapitaLand lost 2.7%. At the same time Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 1.8% in Sydney and KB Financial Group slipped 0.8% in Seoul, while State Bank of India was down 1.4% in Mumbai trading. 

Previously, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were quoted 51 points lower in screen trade. Still, hopes of a recovery were supporting some stocks, lifting shares of China Shenhua Energy 4.3% and China Construction Bank 2.6% in Shanghai.

Technology shares in Taipei, appeared to be amid the big gainers, with Nanya Technology Corp. gaining 6.9% and Inotera Memories jumping 7%. 

In Australia, a report that China had backed down on iron-ore-price negotiations helped mining stocks, with BHP Billiton rising 1.2% and Rio Tinto adding 0.3%. 

Malaysia's main share index weakened by 0.1%, Philippine shares were 0.2% higher, Thailand's SET Index lost 1.6% and Indonesian shares crept higher by 0.5%. 

In Japan, Hitachi added 3%, encouraged by a Nikkei report that it plans to spend between 20 billion yen and 30 billion yen ($208 million to $313 million) to support production capacity for lithium-ion batteries for hybrid cars, targeting a 70-fold increase by 2015. 

In Seoul, Kia Motors moved up 2% after reporting a strong increase in June domestic sales and U.S. market share.