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Asian shares mostly fell yesterday, with Tokyo skidding more than 3% as the yen rose against the dollar before policy meetings of the US and European central banks.
Tokyo’s Nikkei dived 3.32%, extending an almost 3% slump on Friday. The index shed 468.85 points to 13,661.13.
Seoul lost 0.57%, or 10.92 points, to 1,899.89 but Sydney ended flat, edging up 4.3 points to 5,046.3.
Hong Kong was down 0.54%, or 118.80 points, at 21,850.15 and Shanghai lost 1.72%, or 34.54 points, to close at 1,976.31.
Wall Street provided a soft lead on Friday. The Dow and S&P 500 finished flat and the Nasdaq gained 0.22%.
Eyes are on the US Federal Reserve policy meeting this week, which traders hope will provide more clues about the state of the economy and the future of the central bank’s huge stimulus programme.
Expectations are for the $85bn-a-month bond-buying programme to be kept in place for some time to come, keeping demand for the dollar low, which in turn has sent the yen higher.
That will be followed by the release of closely watched non-farm payrolls data as well as April-June gross domestic product growth.
The dollar was at ¥97.97 in afternoon trade, against ¥98.20 in New York on Friday. The euro bought $1.3268 and ¥130, compared with $1.3278 and ¥130.48.
The European Central Bank will also hold a meeting this week, although analysts say policymakers will not be under pressure to cut rates since eurozone economies show some small signs of improving.
Hong Kong and Shanghai shares were weighed by concerns about the Chinese economy days ahead of the release of manufacturing activity data. Recent figures have pointed to continuing weakness in the world’s number-two economy, a crucial driver of global growth.
Traders were also spooked by news that China’s National Audit Office will carry out an audit of all regional government debt, an announcement which raised concerns about the country’s local banking system.
“The latest audit of all local government debt may indicate that Beijing is increasingly concerned about potential risks” from too-high debt levels, Chen Wei, analyst at China Minzu Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
On oil markets, New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September, was down 65¢ at $104.05 a barrel, and Brent North Sea crude for September fell 50¢ to $106.67.
Gold cost $1,334.38 per ounce at 1030 GMT, compared with $1,329.25 late Friday.
In other markets, Singapore closed up 0.03%, or 0.87 points, at 3,236.97; Jakarta ended down 1.68%, or 78.41 points, at 4,580.47; Kuala Lumpur closed down 8.83 points, or 0.49%, to 1,798.98; Taipei slipped 0.8%, or 64.9 points, to 8,084.5; Manila fell 0.68%, shedding 45.96 points to end at 6,717.66; Wellington fell 3.52 points or 0.08% to 4,578.48.