Benchmark stock indexes advanced for the second consecutive day, the yen hovered near a three-decade low, and the yield on Japanese government bonds stayed above 1%.
Stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong struggled amid rising trade tensions with Canada and the European Union. Property stocks were in focus amid rising creditor actions against residential developers.
The Bank of Japan policy members appear to be divided in deciding the future course of interest rates. The yen drifted to a three-decade low level that generally prompts market intervention from the central bank.
Benchmark indexes traded higher after bargain hunters returned to seek values in the tech, financial, and real estate sectors. The Chinese premier reiterated China's annual GDP growth target of 5%.
Japan's consumer price inflation accelerated in May, and core inflation also advanced, reflecting the ending of energy subsidies to households. Manufacturing sector growth slowed in June, but the sector expanded for the second month after contracting for a year.
Market indexes in China remained under pressure after the People's Bank of China fixed the yuan at a slightly lower rate, reflecting a selloff in overnight trading.
Japanese investors look forward to the release of consumer inflation data and an update on business activities in the manufacturing and service sectors on Friday.
The People's Bank of China held steady its key lending rates used for consumer and residential mortgage loans but failed to provide additional supportive measures to revive the property market.
Japan's exports in May surpassed expectations and rose for the sixth month in a row amid a weak yen and strong demand from the U.S., China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Imports jumped to a five-month high, indicating improving domestic demand.
The yen remained in the crosshairs of currency traders as the Bank of Japan showed little urgency in lifting rates and tapering government bond purchases.
Benchmark indexes in China traded down amid ongoing property market worries and little progress on the policy front in improving home affordability and residential property developers' heavy debt burden.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged as much as 2% on the growing awareness that the persistent weakness in the yen could support higher inflation and weak consumer spending growth in the long term.
