Nikkei lags, other Asian markets gain to open November

After a roller-coaster October, Asian stocks markets started November with widespread gains.

Japan was the notable exception, with the Nikkei

NIK -1.10%

down 0.5% amidst caution over U.S. trade policies and the upcoming midterm elections. The telecom sector fell 6.3%, by far the worst among Topix sectors, after NTT DoCoMo said it would cut mobile service charges. NTT DoCoMo

9437, -14.11%

was down 11% while fellow telecom KDDI

9433, -16.70%

dropped 15% and SoftBank Group

9984, -8.53%

sank 6.9%. Panasonic

6752, -5.88%

was also sharply down.

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks surged Thursday, with Hong Kong Hang Seng Index

HSI, + 1.95%

jumping 1.4%. Apple Inc.

AAPL, + 2.61%

suppliers Sunny Optical

2382 + 8.09%

and AAC Tech

2018 + 6.71%

, rose 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, a day after Apple unveiled new computers and iPads. Country Garden

2007 + 8.70%

and China Overseas Land

0688, + 5.09%

rose 8% and 3.2%, respectively, after what UOB Kay Hian analyst Ip called an upbeat assessment on mainland China's construction recovery from yesterday's PMI reading. Among the losers, CLP Holdings

0002, -1.82%

was down 1.3% and Power Assets

0006, -1.15%

slipped 1.1%.

Mainland China benchmarks continue higher, as the latest Politburo meeting called for "healthy development" of the capital market, with Shanghai Composite

SHCOMP, + 0.93%

gaining 1.1%. The smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite

399,106, + 2.06%

was up 1.5%, following its seventh straight monthly decline. Some AI-related names popped, boosted by Xi Jinping's pep talk, while infrastructure stocks outperformed the boarder market.

Australia's ASX 200

XJO, + 0.18%

rose 0.3%, as BHP Billiton

BHP, + 2.79%

rose after announcing a plan to give $ 10.4 trillion from its shale to investors via an exclusive split buyback and special dividend. Stocks in New Zealand

NZ50GR, + 1.05%

rose as well.

Taiwan's Taiex

Y9999, + 0.34%

GDP grew 2.28% year-over-year, slower than the previous quarter's 3.3% expansion. Benchmark indexes in South Korea

SEU, + 0.46%

, Singapore

ITS + 1.22%

and Malaysia

FBMKLCI, -0.24%

all posted solid gains.

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