Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.3% by 8:30 GMT + 2, despite positive news about the start of vaccination against COVID-19 in the country with Pfizer / BionTech.

Exports of Japan in January increased by 6.4% compared to the same month last year - up to 5.78 trillion yen. The rise was noted for the second month in a row after 24 months of continuous decline (the longest such period since 1979). Experts predicted an average growth of 6.6%.

The rise was primarily due to an increase in demand for Japanese products from China. Exports from Japan to the PRC jumped 37.5% last month.

Among the leaders in the decline are shares of Japan Steel Works Ltd. (-6%), CyberAgent Inc. (-4.8%) and M3 Inc. (-four%).

Meanwhile, shares of investment and technology SoftBank Group rose in price by 0.4%, Asia's largest apparel retailer Fast Retailing - by 0.4%, semiconductor manufacturer Advantest Corp. - by 0.5%.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index increased by 0.9% by 08:54 GMT + 2.

The most significant increase in the value of the chip manufacturer AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. in the course of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (+ 5.2%), oil producers China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (+ 4.9%) and CNOOC (+ 4.7%), telecommunications companies China Mobile Ltd. (+ 2.8%) and China Unicom (+ 2.4%).

Internet giant Tencent Holdings added 1.4%, online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. - 1.1%.

Meanwhile, the stock price of electronics maker Xiaomi Corp. drops by 0.9%.

The South Korean Kospi Index dropped 0.8% by 08:52 GMT + 2.

At the same time, the market value of one of the world's largest chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics Co. decreased by 1.7%, car manufacturer Hyundai Motor - by 1.6%.

The Australian S & P / ASX 200 lost 0.5% by the end of the day.

A significant decrease in quotations was shown by the shares of the gold mining companies Evolution Mining Ltd. (-10%) and Northern Star Resources Ltd. (-7.6%).

At the same time, the capitalization of the world's largest mining companies BHP and Rio Tinto grew by 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively.

BHP announced a day earlier that in the first financial half, which ended December 31, 2020, EBITDA increased by 21% compared to the same period a year earlier and reached $ 14.68 billion. The company's net profit decreased by 20% - to $ 3. 88 billion (includes $ 2.2 billion in emergency losses).