Sharp rallied 1.7 percent while Sony lost 1.7 percent ahead of reporting results later in the day. The Nikkei daily reported that Sony's board is expected to reject activist investor Daniel Loeb's proposal to spin off its entertainment operations.
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Sydney 0.2% higher
Australia's benchmark index pared gains after trading within eye-shot of a new two-month high following the release of HSBC's dismal China PMI reading. The Australian dollar showed no reaction to the Chinese data and continued to trade below 90 U.S. cents at a three-year low.
Banks led the declines with most of nation's top four lenders skidding over 1 percent on news that the government will introduce a new tax on bank deposits.
Packaging firm Amcor jumped 1.4 percent after announcing that it plans to spin off its glass and beverage can packaging unit. Meanwhile, Transurban added 2.6 percent after announcing a 198 percent jump in full-year net profit.
The index hit a two-month high at 5,098 on Wednesday while ending the month of July as one of Asia's best performing stock markets with a 5.5 percent gain.
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Kospi hits highs
South Korean equities tracked Asia-wide gains to hit its highest levels since June 12 but mixed economic data for July weighed on sentiment.
Consumer inflation accelerated to a five-month high while manufacturing activity fell to a ten-month low. Meanwhile, exports grew 2.6 percent from a year earlier.
Shares of STX Corp surged 15 percent on news that creditors of its subsidiary STX Offshore & Shipbuilding have agreed to provide fresh liquidity in a bid to help resolve its cash crunch.
— By CNBC.com's Nyshka Chandran. Follow her on Twitter @NyshkaCNBC