LONDON (CNNfn) - Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng went on a roller- coaster ride Thursday, closing with a loss of 314 points after hitting an intraday high earlier.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 104.47 points to 19.662.23 as weakness among Internet stocks outweighed gains in bank shares.
Internet investor Softbank fell 12.3 percent on uncertainty for the sector. Among the gainers, Oracle Corp. Japan surged by its daily limit of12.35 percent on reports it planned to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section- with its top-tier shares.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index fell 314.4 points, or 1.75 percent, to close at 17,637.03, reversing an early surge of 1.66 percent that took it to an intraday record of 18,249.86. Blue-chip telecom shares and technology shares led the market lower as they gave back profits from a long bull run.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index rose 9.71 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,082.29 at the close. Technology stocks led the gains with multimedia firm Creative Technology rising 2.9 percent to S$52.80 to track its Nasdaq-traded shares, which rose as high as $30 5/8 Wednesday.
Bank shares strengthened across Asia on news that Germany's Deutsche Bank and rival Dresdner were merging to create a giant with assets of more than $1.3 trillion, which is likely to prompt further consolidation among the world's banks.
Japan's Fuji Bank rose 6.64 percent to 915 yen while merger partners Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank rose 7 percent to 886 yen and Tokai bank rose 12.15 percent to 600 yen. Singapore's United Overseas Bank rose 4.1 percent to S$10.20, and DBS, the country's largest bank, rose 0.2 percent to S$20.70.
HSBC Holdings, Hong Kong's biggest stock, slipped 0.28 percent to HK$87.75 on a news report the bank may bid for Germany's fourth-largest bank Commerzbank.
Telecom stocks in Hong Kong fell as investors waited for further news on Pacific Century CyberWorks merger with Cable & Wireless HKT. Its shares shed 3.5 percent to HK$24.55. Pacific lost 3.8 percent toHK$22.95. China Telecom dropped 4.6 percent to HK$72.75.
Smaller Asian markets were mixed. In Seoul, South Korea's Kospi index ended more than 3 percent lower as institutions sold March futures and option contracts that expire Thursday.
In Taipei, the TAIEX index rose 2.11 percent to close at 9,587.27, and Manila's 33-share main index closed at a 16 month low of 1,626.95, down 12.84 points.
Australia's All Ordinaries index slipped Thursday as investors shifted out of some of the market's biggest stocks to seek out likely takeover targets. The benchmark index lost 21.9 points, or 0.68 percent, to 3,196.6.
News Corp fell 4.7 percent to A$25.7. Telecom company Telstra fell 13.1 cents to A$8.078. On Wednesday, Telstra said first-half profit rose 15.6 percent but investors were disappointed that it failed to unlock value in its Internet business. Potential takeover targets, such as fund manager and insurer AMP rose 3.7 percent to A$16.35.
In Thailand, the benchmark SET index closed up nearly 2 percent at 393.23, while Malaysia's KLSE Composite was down 0.87 percent at 930.72. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was up 2.65 percent at 570.052. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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