Asia-Pacific markets were broadly lower on Monday, ahead of a busy week of key economic releases in the region.
Most major markets were down except Japan, which bucked the regional trend: the Nikkei 225 ended Monday slightly above the flatline at 28,593.52, while the Topix was 0.11% higher to close at 2,037,34.
Investors will be closely watching the Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting later this week, the first to be led by new BOJ chief Kazuo Ueda.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.11% to finish at 7,322, while South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.82% lower at 2,523.5 and the Kosdaq was down 1.56% to end at 855.23.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component shed 1.16% to close at 11,317.01 and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.78% to finish at 3,275.41.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gave up earlier gains and fell about 0.8% lower in its last hour of trade, while the Hang Seng Tech also reversed and was about 0.4% lower in the final trading hour.
Some Southeast Asian markets are closed today for a holiday, including Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Last week, all three major U.S. indices posted gains on Friday, but ended the week lower overall. On a weekly basis, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the biggest decline, falling 0.42%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23% to snap a four-week win streak, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%.
— CNBC