Asian markets were mixed during a volatile session Thursday, with indexes in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney wavering between gains and losses as investors assessed the Federal Reserve's half-point reduction in a key interest rate overnight and the health of the U.S. economy.

Japanese and South Korean shares rose after opening on a weak note, while Hong Kong shares gave up early gains as investors considered negative news flows related to the health of the global financial markets and the recent correction in Shanghai-listed stocks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 average rose 1.7% to 13,565.72 in the afternoon session, after dropping as low as 13,154.77 earlier in the day. The broader Topix index gained 1.7% to 1,341.92.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended the morning session 0.7% down at 23,484, after rising as high as 23,887.17 in the opening minutes. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 2.7% to 12,410.12.

India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 1% to 17,583.85 by late morning.

China's Shanghai Composite rose as high as 4,487.32 during the session, but couldn't sustain the gains in the wake of brutal weather conditions in south and central China, where tens of millions of people were affected by the worst winter the country has faced in five decades. The index was recently up 0.6% at 4,442.11.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7% to 5,580.90, after wavering between 5,448.50 and 5,655.50 during the session. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.7% to 1,615.73, bouncing off the day's low at 1,570.87, New Zealand's NZX 50 index dropped 0.7% to 3,670.64 and Taiwan's Weighted index fell 1% to 7,467.38.

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