HONG KONG - Asian shares succumbed to profit-taking on Thursday as dealers moved to cash in on the previous day's gains after the Japanese and US central banks held interest rates at record lows.

Hopes for an economic recovery lifted regional indexes on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) said it would keep rates at near zero and would double a loan facility available to other banks in order to increase credit.

That announcement came after the US Federal Reserve pledged to keep its lending rate at rock-bottom 'for an extended period' in light of tame inflation and high unemployment in a bid to help a fragile recovery from recession.

However, with little else to drive buying on Thursday investors chose to sell up, fearing the market was overpriced.

Tokyo's Nikkei dropped 0.95 percent, or 102.95 points, to 10.744.03 and Hong Kong lost 0.25 percent, or 53.82 points, to 21,220.67.

Shanghai ended 0.14 percent, or 4.39 points, down at 3,046.09, with concerns that Beijing will tighten credit also weighing on sentiment.

'The Nikkei has gained sharply recently, so the market is overheated,' Yukio Takahashi, market analyst at Mizuho Securities, said.

Daiwa Securities capital markets general manager Kazuhiro Takahashi said: 'There aren't many incentives since the BoJ's policy board meeting.

'The environment, like the US market, is stable and favourable, but still the market needs something more - earnings prospects in particular.'

Nissan ended 1.03 percent lower at 766 yen despite trading higher earlier on after its announcement it would build the Leaf electric car in Sunderland, Britain. Toyota dropped 1.39 percent to 3,530.

Wall Street had provided a strong lead, rising 0.45 percent after a Labor Department report showed US producer prices fell in February, snapping a four-month increase and stoking share-buying sentiment after the Fed move.

However, Sydney bucked the Asian trend, gaining 0.20 percent, or 9.9 points, to 4,863.1.

The BoJ said Wednesday it would raise to 20 trillion yen (220 billion dollars) a short-term loan facility that banks could access to free up money, as it tries to kickstart the nation's faltering recovery.

It also said it would keep interest rates at near-zero percent - where they have been since December 2008 - to fight deflation, which is holding back a rebound.

The euro was sharply lower following a report that Greece may go to the International Monetary Fund to help it out of its debt crisis.

Dow Jones Newswires cited a senior Greek official as saying Athens may consider other options if discussions within the European Union fail to find a solution to the problem, which has crippled the nation.

'If there is no clear support at the EU summit on March 25, we will have to decide where to go next,' the official said, according to the report. 'There are a number of scenarios on the table, but the most prominent one is the IMF.'

The European unit fell to 123.06 yen from 124.05 yen in New York late Wednesday after the report on Greece. It also dropped to 1.3668 dollars from 1.3735. The greenback fetched 90.04 yen from 90.33 yen.

Oil was lower, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, falling 56 cents to 82.37 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery was off 60 cents to 81.36 dollars. Gold opened at 1,122.00-1,123.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Wednesday's close of 1,130.00-1,131.00 US dollars an ounce.

In other markets:

- Singapore closed 0.18 percent, or 5.36 points, lower at 2,913.94.

Singapore Airlines closed 0.76 percent lower at 15.60 Singapore dollars, Singapore Telecommunications was steady at 3.20 Singapore dollars and CapitaLand was down 0.98 percent at 4.06 Singapore dollars.

- Seoul closed 0.46 percent, or 7.69 points, lower at 1,675.17.

- Taipei rose 0.49 percent, or 38.5 points, to 7,886.34.

Formosa Plastics rose 0.57 percent to 71 Taiwan dollars while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co fell 0.17 percent to 60.4.

- Jakarta fell 0.69 percent, or 19.02 points, to 2,737.24.

Telkom shed 2.9 percent to 8,350 rupiah, while Bank Central Asia plunged 6.0 percent to 5,450 rupiah after rising 11 percent yesterday.

- Kuala Lumpur ended flat, edging 0.01 points down to 1,301.94.

Pay-TV operator Astro jumped 18.80 percent to 4.23 ringgit, budget carrier AirAsia rose 3.80 percent to 1.35 while gaming firm Berjaya Sports Toto was down 1.40 percent to 4.34.

- Manila closed 0.42 percent, or 12.90 points, higher at 3,100.95.

Top-traded Aboitiz Equity Ventures and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. were both unchanged at 13.50 pesos and 2,580 pesos respectively.

Ayala Corp. was up 0.86 percent to 295 pesos while Universal Robina Corp. rose 5.7 percent to 23.25 pesos.

- Wellington rose 0.62 percent, or 19.73 points, to end at 3,220.69.

Fletcher Building rose 2.3 percent to 8.32 New Zealand dollars and Telecom ended up 0.5 percent at 5.02 as bargain hunters moved in after it recently hit record lows.

- Bangkok shed 0.85 percent, or 6.52 points, to close at 759.02.

The country's largest bank, Bangkok Bank, dropped 2.50 baht to 126 baht and Siam Cement shed two baht to finish at 238 baht.

- Mumbai closed 0.17 percent, or 29.18 points, higher at 17,519.26.

India's second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies rose 1.66 percent to 2,784.75 rupees while the second largest mobile phone firm Reliance Communications rose 2.11 percent to 164.4.