Asian shares dropped, with the regional benchmark index snapping two days of gains, led by Samsung Electronics Co. and Australian banks. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average pared gains after the Bank of Japan rejected a call for an immediate start to open-ended asset purchases.

Nikkei 225 11,968.08 +35.81 +0.30%

Hang Seng 22,771.44 -6.40 -0.03%

S&P/ASX 200 5,109.2 -7.59 -0.15%

Shanghai Composite 2,324.29 -22.89 -0.98%

Samsung, which yesterday announced it will invest 10.4 billion yen ($111 million) in troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp., fell 2.6 percent in Seoul.

Sharp tumbled 7.9 percent.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s No. 3 lender by market value, slid 0.8 percent after announcing plans to cut jobs and as the nation reported a bigger-than- expected trade deficit.

Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-biggest automaker by market value, pared gains to 0.6 percent in Tokyo.