Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.62% to close at 30,323.34 while the Topix index fell 0.3% to end the trading day at 2,090.16. South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.74% lower at 3,130.09.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.58% on the day to 7,460.20.

Australia’s unemployment rate decreased to 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, data released Thursday showed, lower than the 4.9% forecast in a Reuters poll. Still, the Australian Bureau of Statistics attributed the decline to a “large fall in participation during the recent lockdowns” rather than strengthening labor market conditions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.659 as it struggles to recover after declining from above 92.8 earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.35 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7321, still off levels above $0.735 that were seen earlier this week.

Oil prices were lower in Asia’s afternoon trading hours. International benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.11% to $75.38 per barrel and U.S. crude futures declined 0.12% to $72.52 per barrel.