CEO Cnooc Ltd

Shares in Asia were mostly lower Thursday, with markets cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium—which starts later in the trading day—sidelining investors.

The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.3% at 16,551.79 points, tracking declines in the U.S. market. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.2%, the Shanghai Composite Index was 1% lower and the Kospi was 0.2% lower.

As has been the case all week, traders are focused on what U.S. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will say at her speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, where many hope for a glimmer of guidance as to when the world's biggest economy will next raise interest rates.

Some, however, say that even the expectation of guidance is too hopeful.

"I think people are reading way, way too much into Jackson Hole," said Kay Van-Petersen, Asia macro strategist at Saxo Capital Markets. "There's a lack of direction generally in the market and I think people are almost creating scenarios because they want direction. From our perspective, it just does not make sense for Yellen to posture [to one side or the other]; I think she'll just keep the options open."

Declines overnight in the commodities sphere weighed on the big commodities producing countries, such as Australia and Malaysia. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2% and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia was 0.1% lower. Brent, the global oil benchmark, was unchanged at $49.05 a barrel.

In Hong Kong, the shares of Chinese oil majors came under pressure after releasing disappointing earnings. Cnooc Ltd. was trading down 1.9% after the company posted a 7.7 billion yuan net loss, compared with a 14.7 billion yuan net profit in the first half last year. PetroChina Company Ltd. shed 1.1% of its value after its net profit plunged 98%, to 531 million yuan ($80 million), in the six months ended June 30 compared with the first half of 2015. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. is due to report in coming days, which could spark more stock turbulence.

Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.

Write to Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2016 22:55 ET (02:55 GMT)

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