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· Stocks in major Asian markets declined on Thursday as investors weighed a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases reported in China’s Hubei province due to a tweak in methodology.

Mainland Chinese stocks reversed earlier gains and ended their trading day lower, with the Shanghai composite down 0.71% to about 2,906.07 and the Shenzhen component declining 0.7% to 10,864.32 while the Shenzhen composite fell 0.769% to around 1,771.61. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.29% lower, as of its final hour of trading.

China’s Hubei province on Thursday reported a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases. It said it started to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its tally.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was 0.17% lower.

Market sentiment had been been positive earlier in the week as the data had been showing an apparent slowdown in the pace of new reported cases, with policymakers in China having announced a series of measures to combat the expected economic slowdown from the virus outbreak.

· Tokyo stocks closed lower on Thursday as another spike in the death toll from new coronavirus in hard-hit Hubei province weighed on market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.14 percent, or 33.48 points, to 23,827.73, while the broader Topix index was down 0.34 percent, or 5.84 points, at 1,713.08.

Chinese authorities said the number of fatalities and new cases from China's coronavirus outbreak soared on Thursday, with 242 more deaths and nearly 15,000 extra patients in Hubei as authorities changed their threshold for diagnosis.

· China stocks closed lower on Thursday, after having gained for seven straight sessions, as Hubei province reported a sharp jump in new cases and deaths due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Shanghai Composite index ended 0.7% lower at 2,906.07. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.6%.