2013.05.3001:52:15UTC+00Most Asian stocks on a decline with Japan stocks leading the pull back

Asia stocks were down on early Thursday trading action, with Japan selling off after its equities took a pause in the previous session.

With the dollar moving under the 101-yen level ahead of the Tokyo open and U.S. markets logging solid losses overnight, Japanese shares begin on a steep low post with the Nikkei Stock Average falling below the 14,000 level.

But the tide soon turned for the yen, with the dollar regaining ¥101 and the Nikkei Average paring a 3% loss to a milder 1.7% drop, trading at 14,088 an hour into the morning session.

The Nikkei Average ended Wednesday with a 0.1% increase.

Given the forex moves, exporters were among the major backsliders in Tokyo. Sharp Corp. gave up 3.7%, while Kyocera Corp. and Honda Motor Co. each sagged 2.2%, and Pioneer Corp. retreated 3.4%.

Real-estate shares, however, stuck to their opening lows amid jitters over the direction of bond prices, with Mitsui Fudosan Co. relinquishing 5.1%, and Mitsubishi Estate Co. missing 4.2%.

Among the scattered blue-chip gainers, NTT DoCoMo Inc. advance 0.8% on the back of a price-target increase from HSBC, while Inpex Corp. produced 1.8% more, likely helped by news that it and Royal Dutch Shell PLC would buy out their Indonesian partner in their offshore Abadi liquefied-natural-gas project.

Aussie down, Seoul flat

Australian stocks sank, with some major miners hit after a drop in iron-ore prices, pushing down the S&P/ASX 200 by 0.7%.

Shares of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. tanked 4.7%, while larger rivals Rio Tinto Ltd. and BHP Billiton Ltd., lower by 1.3% and 1.9%, respectively.

National Australia Bank Ltd. tumbled 3.4% as its shares traded without dividend rights.

In South Korea, the Kospi was flat, with tech majors stronger but financials lower after Wednesday’s losses on Wall Street.

Samsung Electronics Co. step up 1%, and LG Display Co. bolster 1.6%, while Hana Financial Group Inc. backslides 0.9% and Woori Finance Holdings Co. drifted 1.2%.