Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Monday after a week that saw a broad rally in stocks.
Traders in Asia will watch out for central bank releases this week, including the Bank of Korea’s rate decision and minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August meeting.
Inflation data from Japan and Singapore will also be released on Friday, while China will announce its one-year and five-year loan prime rates on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.42%, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.31%.
Core machinery orders in Japan fell 1.7% year on year in June, surprising economists who had expected a 1.8% rise. Machinery orders are viewed as a proxy for capital expenditure in the country.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose over 1% — the only major index in positive territory — while the CSI 300 was marginally below the flatline.
South Korea’s Kospi was 0.42% lower, and the small-cap Kosdaq slid 0.32%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
On Friday in the U.S., the S&P 500 added 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.21% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96 points, or 0.24%, rounding off a week of gains.
