By Michael Kitchen LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Asian stock markets traded generally lower in midday action Thursday, with a mixed lead from Wall Street and data showing further cooling in the Chinese economy weighing on shares. Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.8% in early afternoon trading, though off its lows for the session, while the broader Topix lost 1.3%. Hong Kong shares reversed from early gains, with the Hang Seng Index down 0.3% and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index off 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.4%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4%, and Mumbai's Sensex and S&P/CNX Nifty were both nearly flat in morning moves. Among individual shares, Japanese exporters failed to gain from a weaker yen and upgrade to the Bank of Japan's fiscal-year economic forecast, with Sony Corp. (JP:6758 2,592, +46.00, +1.81%) (SNE 29.08, -0.15, -0.51%) down 2.5% and Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203 3,250, +125.00, +4.00%) (TM 73.34, +1.62, +2.26%) losing 2.3%. Banks were among the losers in Hong Kong, with Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988 4.10, -0.04, -0.97%) (BACHY 13.09, -0.02, -0.15%) falling 1%, but computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. (HK:992 4.61, +0.06, +1.32%) (LNVGF 0.57, +0.01, +1.79%) up 1.1% on reports of rising PC shipments worldwide in the second quarter. In Shanghai, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (CN:601288 2.69, +0.02, +0.75%) was up 0.8% in its trading debut, though the gain was below its more-than-2% pop at the open.

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