By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with Australian stocks slipping as Rio Tinto plunged a day after BHP Billiton dropped its takeover bid, while Japanese shares fell as exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. lost ground on a strengthened yen. Indexes in South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan advanced after stocks extended gains on Wall Street overnight. Thailand shares declined as thousands of protestors, intensifying their efforts to topple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's government, occupied Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport and forced a halt of all flights, according to reports. "Investor sentiment is swinging from one extreme to the other. They're sometimes fearful, and sometimes they're hopeful about the stimulus packages," said Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia. "The market hasn't stabilized yet." In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average fell 0.7% to 8,269.70, and the broader Topix index gave up 1.2% to 821.57. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.9% to 3,590.80 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index inched up 0.1% to 2,637.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped above the psychologically-important 13,000-point level and was recently at 13,302.61, up 3.3%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 3.8% to 6,913.88. Kwong said the Hang Seng Index was likely to hold on to the gains during the rest of the session on buying ahead of the expiration of November futures Thursday. South Korea's Kospi climbed 3.3% to 1,015.92, Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 1.1% to 1,670.72 and Taiwan's Taiex was little changed at 4,268.35. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 1,895.53, after sliding for four straight sessions. India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained 1.3% to 8,806.55 in early trading. Thailand's SET Index fell 1.6% to 385.67, with tourism-related stocks hit hard, and Malaysia's KLSE Composite dipped 1.2% to 849.97. BHP, Rio & Chinese steelmakers In Sydney, shares of Rio Tinto plunged 32.1% after BHP scrapped its roughly $66 billion hostile bid for the company, saying the deal was no longer in the best interests of shareholders because the global economic downturn has led to a slump in commodity prices. See full story. BHP Billiton shares gained 7.8%. Shares of Chinese steelmakers advanced, with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. shares gaining 3.5% and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. rising 3.5% in Shanghai, while Angang Steel Co. stock jumped 4.9% in Shenzhen. UOB Kay Hian analysts Foo Choy Peng and Kenneth Li wrote in a report a BHP-Rio deal would have allowed the merged entity "to call the shots in the iron ore talks with China even in a depressed steel maker." They said after its aborted bid, BHP "will want to hold out the talks with Chinese mills for as long as possible to wait for an anticipated upturn in the Chinese steel market so that it doesn't need to cut the contract prices significantly." They added that the unsuccessful bid may "ironically" benefit the three big iron ore suppliers - Rio, BHP and Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce - in the near term, "although it will benefit Chinese mills in the longer term."

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